The Football Association of Ireland has pulled its backing for Gianni Infantino’s bid to win re-election as FIFA president, deepening the growing unease around the world governing body’s leadership.
The move followed an FAI board meeting, where members agreed to withdraw a letter of support the Irish organisation had sent earlier this year.
The FAI has since written to FIFA outlining why it took the step.
Infantino has apologised for putting forward a plan to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) — a company that would oversee the commercial and operational side of FIFA tournaments — including a proposal to sell about 20% of it to private investors.
Despite the apology, he remains under heavy pressure over whether he should stay in the role.
In a statement, the FAI said it remains appreciative of FIFA’s assistance to football in Ireland, “but recent events have raised significant concerns regarding governance, transparency and the lack of meaningful consultation.”
The association added: “Considering the governance challenges that the FAI has itself faced in recent years, the Association feels a particular obligation to advocate for and uphold best practice.”
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF have urged Infantino to step down, citing the now-abandoned attempt to bring private investment into FIFA competitions.
UEFA has already warned it could boycott FIFA events, and it has held initial talks with the AFC and CONCACAF on aligning their own competitions — a move aimed, it says, at ensuring players within their regions still have meaningful chances to compete.
But Infantino also drew support on Friday from Qatar, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Egypt and Mauritania.
Four of those six nations are also represented on the FIFA Council.
“We deeply appreciate Mr Infantino’s sustained efforts to advance football globally, expand opportunities across all regions and strengthen the game’s role in bringing people and communities together,” they said.
“We look forward to continuing our close cooperation with him towards a stronger and more prosperous future for world football, expanding opportunities and further enhancing Arab football’s contribution to the global game.”
Infantino’s positon is up for election in March next year.
African football chief Patrice Motsepe says the fate of the embattled president should be determined only through the electoral process.
It is understood the trio want to give Infantino the chance to resign and leave his position with dignity without seeking re-election.
However Motsepe — a FIFA vice-president and president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) — said any attempt to remove Infantino must be carried out by the rules, through a vote of FIFA’s member associations.
“If anybody has got any problem against anybody, whether it’s Gianni, whether it is anybody else, follow the process, follow the FIFA process, simple as that,” Motsepe told Sky News.
“If you want to take him out, go for elections; let the 211 member associations decide. Do that and the vote will express whether they’ve got confidence in him or not.
“You’ve got to be very careful. There are elections taking place next year. Shouldn’t we allow that process to continue?”
