AFC Backs Infantino After Two-Month U-Turn — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Sheikh Salman told the AFC Congress in Tokyo, attended by Infantino, that “we reaffirm our full commitment” to supporting him as he seeks a new mandate as FIFA president.
- Sheikh Salman had joined the heads of UEFA and Concacaf in a joint letter only two months earlier criticizing Infantino’s failed World Cup stake-sale plan, accusing him of deception and a profound failure of judgment.
- FIFA will have 55 election votes for UEFA, 54 for Africa, 46 for Asia, 35 for Concacaf, 11 for Oceania and 10 for Conmebol at its March election in Rabat.
- FIFA set an 18 November deadline for candidates to confirm they are running against Infantino; none had filed, meaning he could stand unopposed.
- Victor Montagliani and Aleksander Ceferin, identified as potential rivals, have made known that they are not contenders for the FIFA presidency.
- Gianni Infantino apologised to the FIFA Council for the World Cup sell-off plan but failed to provide a full explanation, and separately proposed increasing football-development funding by $3.4bn.
- UEFA told FIFA to release key documents and answer questions over the proposal’s governance and decision-making by 2 November, after Infantino’s apology lacked a full explanation.
Why it matters: Infantino has turned a 46-vote confederation from part of an earlier rebellion into an ally, weakening the joint front formed with UEFA and Concacaf. UEFA’s 2 November document deadline shows the reconciliation does not erase the governance dispute over the failed stake-sale proposal.
Ask SkimNews
