Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Steven Chicken

Four more nations come out in support of Gianni Infantino in addition to Qatar and Morocco

Gianni Infantino has faced calls to stand down.

A clutch of African and Asian federations have come out in support of Gianni Infantino as football's civil war rumbles on.

FIFA is made up of 211 members, with each member - regardless of the country's size or football might - receiving one vote.

That means that Spain, Brazil, England and Argentina have as much as a say in FIFA elections as Vanuatu, Guam, Bahamas or Aruba - and thus winning the hearts and minds (or at least, the wallets) of those nations is just as important to a successful candidacy as going for the big boys.

Gianni Infantino receives backing in face of calls for resignation

Gianni Infantino is praying he can hold onto his job

As such, it is not trivial that some nations might prefer Infantino to stay on as president even as the louder European FAs are in the process of hammering him.

FIFA are due for their next presidential election in March, and the pressure is mounting on Infantino to step down before we even get there after numerous countries expressed their opposition to his reign continuing.

Gianni Infantino still has supporters

Three confederations spoke out against Infantino last week when his plans to bring private investors into the World Cup were revealed, with AFC (Asia) and CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) voicing their opposition while UEFA (Europe) went so far as to call a boycott if plans proceeded.

High-profile figures within FIFA itself even went on record to distance themselves from Infantino, who finally climbed down from the plans on Saturday.

That has given way to calls for Infantino to leave the post, with a group of nations including England, Wales, Denmark and Sweden formally opposing Infantino's re-election.

But reports suggest that 15 nations remain in support of Infantino, with influential AFC nations Qatar and the UAE among them.

As it stands, only seven of those 15 nations have gone on record to support Infantino, with Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt and Morocco also expressing their backing.

The general theme of those statements in support of Infantino has praised Infantino for being willing to fold (eventually) and saying there are other elements of his proposal for the game worthy of consideration.

FIFA funding is vital for the development of the game in many smaller and poorer nations, and Infantino has made a lot of hay over the years by providing increasing amounts of money to them.

The Asian contingent's support is particularly noteworthy, given their confederation had come out against the proposed World Cup scheme, as it suggests an election race could end up being closer than simply adding up the total number of votes held across UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF to reach the magic 50% mark.

As it stands, a contender to replace Infantino has not yet formally emerged.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.