Fifa president Gianni Infantino speaks throughout the fiftieth Strange Uefa Congress, Brussels Expo, Brussels, Belgium, February 12, 2026. — Reuters
Mexico and Argentina’s soccer associations have thrown their assist behind Fifa President Gianni Infantino, because the world soccer chief faces a fierce backlash over a now-abandoned proposal to unload among the industrial rights to the World Cup.
The Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF), co-hosts of the just lately concluded World Cup, has damaged ranks with its personal regional confederation by backing Infantino after Concacaf referred to as for a “comprehensive reckoning” together with his presidency.
On Thursday, the Confederation of African Soccer (CAF) unanimously backed Infantino’s management, however European soccer’s governing physique Uefa stated it remained dedicated to boycotting the World Cup and different Fifa competitions.
Asia’s confederation stated it “stood in solidarity” with Uefa and Concacaf, which runs soccer in North and Central America in addition to the Caribbean.
Nonetheless, South America’s Conmebol issued a press release on Thursday rejecting any try and oust Infantino that didn’t contain a vote of all 211 members.
Mexico’s federation echoed these sentiments.
“The FMF will neither recognise nor approve any process convened outside of that institutional framework, and it joins the call made … by President Infantino to collectively continue developing football for the benefit of the 211 member associations,” it stated in a press release.
“The FMF supports President Infantino’s leadership in continuing to promote the development of football through institutional strengthening.”
It additionally pledged to overview the processes that led to the controversy.
AFA acknowledges Fifa errors
The fallout from the proposal has forged a shadow over Infantino’s bid for reelection for a fourth time period on the Fifa Congress in Morocco in March, which had regarded like a foregone conclusion two months in the past.
No clear candidate to face towards Infantino in March’s election has but emerged, nevertheless, and the Swiss administrator nonetheless enjoys appreciable assist, together with on Thursday from 2022 world champions Argentina.
In a letter to Infantino, Argentina’s soccer affiliation (AFA) expressed its assist for Fifa’s work during the last 10 years, saying it had “centred on the development of soccer worldwide and institutional strength based on a clear, stable, and transparent governance model”.
Whereas the AFA acknowledged that the proposal generated much more uncertainties than certainties and that errors had been made, it stated that the best way ahead was to proceed working beneath Fifa’s management forward of subsequent 12 months’s Congress.
Conmebol’s earlier assertion expressed issues over the “repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue,” stressing the significance of institutional reforms Fifa launched greater than a decade in the past to advertise transparency.
The Croatian Soccer Federation have been among the many particular person nationwide associations to withdraw assist for Infantino, following related strikes from England and Albania.
“This decision followed a thorough reassessment within the federation in light of recent developments surrounding the Fifa World Cup 2026 and discussions within our governing bodies,” Croatia’s federation stated.
On Thursday, gamers’ union Fifpro stated Infantino’s proposal was not only a governance failure however a “profound abuse of presidential power”.
Fifa has stated that every one actions taken over the industrial rights proposal complied with its laws and pressured that errors associated to course of and communication slightly than breaches of governance guidelines.
