Infantino’s supporters
The 56-year-old Swiss’ 10 years in power have not gone to waste as increased funding to the 211 member associations has paid off.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) – one of its members Morocco is co-host of the 2030 World Cup – remains firmly behind him.
“The CAF EXCO [executive committee] also unanimously reconfirmed its support for Fifa President Gianni Infantino and thanked him for his support for African football, over the years,” read their statement last week.
South American governing body Conmebol remains largely supportive – although it did criticise the manner in which the plan had been conceived and handled – and said Infantino’s future should only be decided in the presidential election in Rabat next March.
Individual member associations have broken ranks with their respective confederations – among them one of this year’s World Cup co-hosts Mexico, from Concacaf, and Kuwait and Qatar from the AFC, who have all voiced support for Infantino.
Opponents
Uefa, Concacaf and AFC doubled down on their scathing criticism of Infantino in the letter over the plan dismissed by Uefa as a “shabby, opaque, backroom deal”.
Uefa’s threat to boycott all Fifa competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cups, is widely credited with forcing Infantino into his humiliating climbdown.
They reiterated that threat last week – the day after Infantino had received the “full support” of senior Fifa directors – and for a while it seemed they were on their own as both Concacaf and AFC did not follow suit with statements.
Developments overnight, though, showed Uefa was far from alone.
“When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned,” the three confederations wrote.
Uefa’s boycott threat will face its first test in September when Poland hosts the Women’s Under-20 World Cup.
One of Infantino’s most bitter opponents, the Norwegian Football Federation and its forthright president Lise Klaveness, called for Infantino to resign last Friday.
Several other member associations have publicly withdrawn their support for his re-election, including Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Serbia and Wales.
Possible next steps
The presidential election, in which Infantino is seeking a fourth and final four-year term, is to be held in Rabat at the Fifa Congress on March 18 next year.
The deadline for a candidate to oppose Infantino is November 18.
History shows it is nigh on impossible to unseat an incumbent – Brazilian strongman Joao Havelange is the last one to succeed, defeating Englishman Stanley Rous in 1974.
However, if his opponents want Infantino removed earlier, there are other possibilities.
The most likely to be triggered would be a vote of no-confidence in Infantino.
This requires 20% of the member associations – 43 nations – to declare they have lost confidence to set in motion an emergency Fifa Congress.
Each association would have a vote – with the vote of Gabon, for example, having the same weight as Germany – and it is not clear if a simple majority would suffice.
Potential rivals
Despite the refreshing candour of Klaveness, she is unlikely to stand, and anyway, Fifa’s electorate would prefer a non-European.
Hopes that the two most powerful positions in sport could be held by women, with Kirsty Coventry elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year, therefore seem remote.
A European has been in charge since 1998, with Sepp Blatter followed by Infantino, although African football head Issa Hayatou acted as caretaker president in between Blatter resigning in 2015 and the election of his successor.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has on several occasions ruled himself out and without a European, the field narrows considerably.
Concacaf president Victor Montagliani was previously seen as close to Infantino but there is clear blue water between them now, with the regional governing body issuing a statement calling for “a comprehensive reckoning with this presidency”.
The charismatic 60-year-old Canadian, who like Infantino can take credit for the successful hosting of the World Cup, numbers legendary Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti among his close friends inside the sport.
The AFC president, Sheikh Salman bin Irahim al-Khalifa, thought his moment had come when he ran against Blatter in 2016 only to finish runner-up to Infantino.
The 60-year-old, who has run Asian football since 2013 and whose fourth term comes to an end next year, may fancy a second tilt.
– AFP