Scottish FA withdraws support for Infantino re-election
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- Scottish FA has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino and will not vote for his re-election in early 2027, chief executive Ian Maxwell told BBC Sport, aligning with the 55 UEFA associations' stance.
- FairSquare wrote to FIFA's governance, audit and compliance committee requesting Infantino be ruled ineligible, arguing that a fourth term would extend his presidency to 15 years in "clear violation" of FIFA's statutory 12-year cap.
- The crisis stems from the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal — a plan to sell 21% of a new company managing all FIFA competition commercial and ticketing rights to a private investment firm, which was scrapped after widespread criticism.
- UEFA, Concacaf, and the AFC issued a joint open letter accusing FIFA and Infantino of breaking trust "through deception"; sources told BBC Sport it should be read as an opportunity for Infantino to resign with dignity, and the three confederations have held preliminary talks on breakaway competitions.
- Support for Infantino is fractured within confederations: New Zealand has broken from Oceania, Mexico, Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis have broken from the other 32 Concacaf nations, and eight Asian members — UAE, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Kuwait, Mongolia, Philippines and Bhutan — have split from the 46-strong AFC.
- The first test of UEFA's boycott threat comes in three weeks at the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Poland, which features five European nations including England; the Football Associations of England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have already declared they have withdrawn support for Infantino.
Why it matters: With the Scottish FA joining England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland in opposition, UEFA's bloc is visibly consolidating; the 18 November candidate deadline and the Under-20 Women's World Cup in Poland are the next hard dates. FairSquare's eligibility challenge, if upheld by FIFA's governance committee, could remove Infantino from the ballot entirely before any vote of the 211 member associations.
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