The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has publicly supported Fifa president Gianni Infantino, diverging from the stance of its regional governing body, Concacaf. Concacaf, which oversees football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, had previously called for a thorough review of Infantino’s presidency following his abandoned proposals to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.
Despite widespread calls for Infantino’s resignation, Mexico, a co-host for the 2026 World Cup, has backed his leadership. The FMF released a statement affirming its support for Infantino’s leadership in promoting football development through institutional strengthening. This statement echoed sentiments from Conmebol, South America’s governing body, by stating it would reject any attempt to remove Infantino without a vote involving all 211 Fifa members.
The FMF further stated it would not recognise or approve any process outside this institutional framework, joining Infantino’s call for collective football development for the benefit of all 211 member associations. While Conmebol expressed concern over “repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue or the institutional mechanisms,” it stopped short of advocating for immediate change.
Divisions in support
The football association of 2026 World Cup runners-up Argentina also praised Infantino for acknowledging and apologising for his “errors.” It described his decade-long tenure as Fifa president as being focused on global football development and institutional strength, based on a clear, stable, and transparent governance model. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has unanimously backed Infantino.
In contrast, Uefa, European football’s governing body, and Concacaf continue to oppose Infantino. Uefa has maintained its threat to boycott Fifa-run competitions and reiterated its loss of confidence in Infantino’s presidency. The organisation stated that conditions for averting a boycott, including assurances that attempts to “disfigure the game” would not be made again, have not been met.
Concacaf described Infantino’s proposal as “a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first” and highlighted a pattern of “missteps and similar behaviour.” However, unlike Uefa, Concacaf did not explicitly state it had lost confidence in the Fifa president. The English FA has formally withdrawn its support for Infantino, with Wales, Albania, and Croatia among other individual associations to have done the same.
Reactions to withdrawn proposals
Before Infantino withdrew his proposal for private investment in tournaments, including the men’s and women’s World Cups, through the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) subsidiary, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had expressed solidarity with Uefa and Concacaf in opposition to the plans. Infantino had reportedly offered all associations $40m if they supported the proposal.
During a meeting of Fifa executives in Morocco, “mistakes” regarding FFE were acknowledged. Fifa stated it was “not the intention” for the Fifa Council and member associations to “feel excluded from the process” and that it “should have been handled differently.” However, Uefa’s response indicated that this announcement, and the backing from some Fifa employees, changed nothing regarding its stance.
The global players’ union, Fifpro, condemned what it called “a profound abuse of presidential power” regarding the FFE scheme. Fifpro stated that while the FFE is gone, the abuse of power that produced it is not, calling for governance reforms rather than a cover-up. The organisation highlighted that a plan capable of altering the ownership and governance of the Fifa World Cup was conceived in secrecy and brought close to agreement without the knowledge of the Fifa council, member associations, players, and other stakeholders.
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, president of the Jordan Football Association, confirmed that Fifa had paid bonuses owed from the Arab Cup, but clarified that he would still oppose Infantino. This payment followed his accusation that Fifa had threatened to withhold funds if Jordan did not back Infantino’s re-election.
Source: bbc.com
