Six countries are supporting Gianni Infantino to be chosen again as FIFA president.
Support for Gianni Infantino, who’s facing a lot of criticism lately, is fading fast. Only a small group of countries – like Qatar and Sri Lanka – are still backing him to be re-elected as FIFA president.
Infantino has been under the spotlight after his plan to sell small parts of big events, including the World Cup, to private investors fell apart because people didn’t like it. UEFA and other football groups say they’ve lost trust in him. The English FA agree and want a full review of FIFA’s leadership to make sure the game is run fairly and openly for all 211 member countries.
Many nations like Wales, Serbia, Sweden, Finland, and England have pulled their support from Infantino. But six countries, including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, and Kuwait, are still supporting him. Some African and Asian countries like Morocco and Egypt also back him.
The next FIFA president will be chosen by a secret vote of all 211 members. To win, a candidate needs more than half the votes – at least 106. Just last month, over 200 countries had officially supported Infantino’s bid for a fourth term, and he looked set to win easily before the recent trouble.
Now, things are less certain. If 43 countries call for an emergency meeting, they can ask for a vote to remove him. FIFA’s ethics committee can also investigate if he’s done something wrong, but there’s no clear evidence of that right now.
Infantino could also lose if someone else wins the election in March. People like CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, PSG’s Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and FIFA’s General Secretary Mattias Grafstrom might run against him.
So, the next few months will be important for the future of FIFA’s leadership!