Crise à la Fifa: l'UEFA maintient la pression sur Infantino, l'Afrique le soutient
Mired in a crisis since the failure of his plan to open FIFA to private investors, the Italian-Swiss executive counterattacked by convening a crisis meeting in Rabat on Wednesday. FIFA's leadership reiterated its "full support" while offering "apologies" for the controversy generated by the project.
FIFA president since 2016, and currently the only declared candidate, Infantino must secure a majority of the 211 votes from the organization's members to be re-elected. Here's an overview of the candidates.
The controversial project has now been officially abandoned, but UEFA, with its 55 members, is not giving up: "UEFA member federations have been very clear on the conditions linked to their non-participation in FIFA competitions," the European body detailed in a statement sent to AFP on Thursday.
In addition to the withdrawal of the project by FIFA - a demand already obtained - UEFA is asking "that assurances be given that such attempts to disfigure football in this way can never happen again".
"These conditions have not been met," says UEFA, which reaffirms that it "has lost confidence in the presidency of Gianni Infantino."
UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin can count on the support of the European Club Association (EFC), whose president is the influential Nasser al-Khelaïfi, who is also the head of PSG.
While several European federations (Finland, Serbia, Sweden, Wales, Denmark...) have already publicly announced that they do not support Infantino for the March 2027 election, the positions of the major federations are still pending.
But a major domino threatens to fall: the English Federation has reportedly withdrawn its support, the British press reported on Thursday.
Concacaf, which brings together 35 football federations from North America and the Caribbean affiliated with FIFA, has joined UEFA in its criticism of the privatization project.
After expressing its "serious concerns about the lack of due process surrounding this proposal", Concacaf called for a "complete overhaul" of FIFA's governance, which acted "outside of any framework and without transparency, consultation, or due process".
The Canadian president of Concacaf, Victor Montagliani, is described by several international media outlets as a potential rival to Infantino for the March election.
With its 54 members affiliated with FIFA, the largest total after UEFA, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is a key ally for Gianni Infantino and "unanimously reaffirmed its support" in a statement released Thursday evening following an executive committee meeting.
CAF "welcomed" the apology from the FIFA boss presented on Wednesday, while recalling that "respect for governance, regular procedures and transparency (was) essential and non-negotiable".
The African continent is one of the main beneficiaries of football development programs: in October 2025, Infantino noted that FIFA had paid out approximately $1.28 billion to CAF through solidarity mechanisms since his election in 2016.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe thanked him "for his constant support of African football over the years".
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which has 46 members affiliated with FIFA, has not clearly taken a position against Infantino but believes that this project has "highlighted the fundamental weaknesses of FIFA's consultation and decision-making processes", calling for "an urgent review of its governance framework".
Gianni Infantino did, however, benefit in Asia from statements of support from several federations, sometimes identical word for word, such as those from Qatar and Mongolia, praising the "merit" of FIFA's proposal and the "wisdom" of abandoning it.
On the contrary, the president of the Jordanian federation, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, unsuccessful candidate for the FIFA presidency in 2016, accused Infantino of "blackmail" in a vitriolic message on X.
As for the influential Saudi federation, it has not officially taken a position yet, orphaned by the loss of its former president Yasser Al-Misehal, who resigned in July following a World Cup deemed a failure.
The South American federation (Conmebol), which has only 10 members affiliated with FIFA but some emblematic federations like Argentina or Brazil, had been very cautious until now.
CONMEBOL, whose president Alejandro Dominguez is generally considered an ally of Infantino, finally expressed its "concern regarding FIFA's repeated unilateral actions" on Thursday. The president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Samir Xaud, declared himself "somewhat against" the abandoned project on Wednesday.
However, CONMEBOL has argued for respect for the institutions and rejected any initiative to remove Infantino. And the president of the Argentine Football Association, Claudio Tapia, sent a letter to Infantino on Thursday in which he stated that "the way forward is to continue working under his leadership."
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) was even more measured in its response when the project was announced, merely inviting its eleven affiliated members to "study" it and "participate in the consultation process" initiated by FIFA. It has not reacted since the project's cancellation.
Commentaires (13)
Il n'a pas le soutien de l'Afrique!!!
Non les africains ne soutiennent pas Infantino mais ce sont plutôt les corrompus de la CAF qui sont derrière ce soutien et malheureusement pour lui c’est la puissante UEFA qui veut qu’il dégage et il va dégager.
Les africains doivent profiter de l’occasion pour faire le ménage à la CAF et le Sénégal aussi pour faire le ménage au sein de la fédération sénégalaise de football qui a été lamentable lors du dernier Mondial.
Ne pas oublier que l'Afrique fourni de grands joueurs qui évoluent partout dans le monde et surtout en Europe !
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