By Aadi Nair
Aug 7 (Reuters) – Football appeared to be headed for a prolonged standoff on Friday as allies of FIFA President Gianni Infantino rallied behind him while Norway demanded his resignation after several European associations withdrew their support.
Confederations and national associations continued to choose sides a week after Infantino abandoned his proposal to raise some $4.2 billion by selling off a stake in the commercial rights of the World Cup and other tournaments.
Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness said Infantino no longer had the confidence of the football community, saying the sport needed to move beyond “Game of Thrones” power struggles and focus on real governance reform.
“He does not have the institutional trust required to govern FIFA stably in the times we are in. There is no going back for Gianni Infantino,” said Klaveness, a qualified lawyer.
“The international football cooperation is very much in trouble, and we must have a reason to get together now, and we want to ask the FIFA president to resign now.”
Meanwhile, European soccer’s governing organisation UEFA, which has 55 members, stood firm in its threat to boycott all events organised by the global body.
However, the football associations of Mexico and Argentina were the latest to throw their weight behind the embattled world soccer chief, following the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) unanimous backing of Infantino’s leadership on Thursday.
South America’s CONMEBOL, meanwhile, expressed concerns over the “repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue”.
MEXICO BREAKS RANKS
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF), co-hosts of the recently concluded World Cup, broke ranks with its own regional confederation by supporting Infantino after CONCACAF had earlier called for a “comprehensive reckoning” with his presidency.
CONCACAF, which runs football in North and Central America as well as the Caribbean, has been among the key critics of FIFA alongside UEFA, which on Thursday said that its key conditions for a return to FIFA competitions had not been met.
UEFA said it remained committed to boycotting the World Cup until it received assurances that “such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.”
England defender Lucy Bronze said European players would support a boycott of FIFA competitions if necessary “for the good of the game.”
UEFA has not said whether its teams would skip FIFA’s next event — the women’s under-20 World Cup in Poland next month. The French Football Federation told the BBC: “For now, France will be participating in the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.”
Reuters has asked the FFF for comment.
Asia’s confederation (AFC) said it “stood in solidarity” with UEFA and CONCACAF, although a few of its 47 members — like Indonesia, the Philippines and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar — have come out in support of Infantino.
In CONMEBOL’s statement on Thursday, it said it rejected any attempt to oust Infantino that did not involve a vote of all 211 members and Mexico’s federation echoed those 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 said in a statement.
“The FMF supports President Infantino’s leadership in continuing to promote the development of football through institutional strengthening.”
Ecuadorean Football Federation President Francisco Egas Lareategui also lent his support to Infantino, saying the country’s football had experienced “exponential development” thanks in large part to FIFA’s financial support.
“We trust that you and those currently leading world football will continue working for the benefit of our sport, adhering to the rules with transparency and conviction,” he wrote in a letter to the FIFA chief.
Following a meeting in Rabat this week, FIFA apologised to its members for mistakes in the proposal and said it would review the process after the plan blindsided national associations and regional confederations.
ARGENTINA FA ACKNOWLEDGES FIFA ERRORS
The fallout from the proposal has cast a shadow over Infantino’s bid for reelection for a fourth term at the FIFA Congress in Morocco in March, which had looked like a foregone conclusion two months ago.
No clear candidate to stand against Infantino has yet emerged, however, and the Swiss administrator still enjoys considerable support, including from 2022 world champions Argentina.
Argentina’s football association (AFA) backed FIFA’s work over the past decade, praising its focus on global development and transparent governance.
While the AFA acknowledged that the proposal generated far more uncertainties than certainties and that errors had been made, it said that the way forward was to continue working under FIFA’s leadership ahead of next year’s Congress.
Paraguay’s federation (APF) also published a letter of support addressed to Infantino, writing that it “reaffirms its commitment to continue working alongside FIFA.”
The Croatian Football Federation was among the individual national associations to withdraw support for Infantino, following similar moves by England and Albania.
On Thursday, players’ union FIFPRO said Infantino’s proposal was not just a governance failure but a “profound abuse of presidential power”.
FIFA has said that all actions taken over the commercial rights proposal complied with its regulations and stressed that mistakes related to process and communication rather than breaches of governance rules.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair and Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford, Christian Radnedge and Ken Ferris)
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