Infantino battle splits football as UEFA and FIFPRO raise pressure

Gianni Infantino is facing an increasingly divided football world after UEFA maintained its threat of a World Cup boycott and FIFPRO demanded structural reform at FIFA, while Argentina and Mexico publicly backed the president’s continued leadership.The interventions followed FIFA’s crisis meeting in Morocco, where senior management reaffirmed support for Infantino and acknowledged mistakes in the handling of the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal.UEFA said: “UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to the non participation in FIFA competitions. First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.“These conditions have not been met. In addition, UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency. That position holds.”FIFA had proposed selling private investors a stake in a new commercial vehicle containing interests connected to competitions including the men’s and women’s World Cups, before withdrawing the plan following opposition across several confederations.The governing body acknowledged in Morocco that FIFA Council members and national associations had been left feeling excluded from the process, with Infantino apologising for errors and agreeing to an internal review.FIFA’s senior management nevertheless gave the president their full backing and warned that the organisation would “not tolerate any attacks on its integrity” following the withdrawal of the proposal.UEFA dismissed that show of internal support and said: “Yesterday’s announcement that some people employed by the FIFA President, and whose careers depend on his favour, agree with him changes nothing.”The European governing body’s position leaves the possibility of national teams refusing to participate in future FIFA competitions on the table, creating potentially significant risks around the broadcast, sponsorship and commercial value of World Cups.FIFPRO has now widened the challenge by demanding involvement in FIFA’s review and legally binding changes to the way decisions affecting professional football are made.The global players’ union, which represents about 70,000 professionals, described FIFA Forward Enterprise as “not merely a governance failure” but “a profound abuse of presidential power”.FIFPRO said: “The withdrawal of FFE prevented an irreversible decision. It did not restore the confidence that made such a proposal possible in the first place.“That confidence has now been fundamentally broken. It cannot be rebuilt through carefully drafted statements, internal reviews or promises to improve processes.”The organisation is demanding governance changes that would prevent any FIFA president from driving major decisions unilaterally, alongside legally binding engagement with professional football stakeholders over the international calendar and competition expansion.FIFPRO also wants voting rights for professional football stakeholders on the FIFA Council and formal recognition of its role as the global representative of players, with its letter signed by regional presidents covering Africa, Asia and Oceania, Europe, South America and North and Central America.Resistance to Infantino is not universal, however, with important national associations beginning to separate themselves from the positions adopted by their confederations.Mexico have broken with CONCACAF, which called for a “comprehensive reckoning” of Infantino’s leadership and described the failed proposal as part of a pattern of poor governance.The Mexican Football Federation said: “The FMF supports president Infantino’s leadership in continuing to promote the development of football through institutional strengthening.”Mexico also rejected any attempt to remove Infantino outside FIFA’s established electoral and governance procedures.The federation said: “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.”Argentina have also backed Infantino despite CONMEBOL criticising “repeated unilateral actions” by FIFA’s leadership and calling for greater dialogue and respect for institutional processes.The Argentine Football Association praised Infantino for acknowledging and apologising for mistakes while supporting what it described as a decade of development and institutional stability.The AFA said: “We address you, dear President, and through you to the FIFA board, to express our support for the management carried out during the last 10 years, which had as its main axes the development of football throughout the world and the institutional solidity based on a clear, stable and transparent governance model.”CONMEBOL has stopped short of demanding Infantino’s departure but warned that the dispute had shifted attention away from football and towards governance failures.The confederation said: “Those responsible for leading our organisations must always prioritise dialogue, respect for the rules, and constructive exchange. When these principles are disregarded, football loses, and we all lose.”The split between confederation leadership and individual member associations will be critical because FIFA presidents are elected directly by its 211 members, each holding one vote regardless of their size or commercial power.Infantino previously claimed to hold more than 200 letters of support for his re-election in March 2027, but England, Wales and Serbia are among European associations to have withdrawn endorsements as the crisis has developed.His ability to maintain backing from individual associations in Africa, Asia and the Americas could therefore prove more important than increasingly hostile statements from confederations.UEFA and FIFPRO are meanwhile attempting to turn the collapse of FIFA Forward Enterprise into broader structural change, ensuring the issue remains alive despite Infantino’s apology and the abandonment of the transaction.The immediate battle will now focus on whether FIFA’s internal review and promises to improve consultation are sufficient to prevent further withdrawals of support, or whether UEFA’s boycott threat and FIFPRO’s governance campaign develop into a coordinated challenge to Infantino before the 2027 election.Infantino also retains substantial support in Africa, with the Confederation of African Football backing his leadership despite the opposition emerging from UEFA, CONCACAF and parts of the Asian Football Confederation.CAF president Patrice Motsepe has previously said: “I personally support Gianni Infantino. He’s not just a good friend. He’s a loyal friend.”Support from Africa could prove decisive if the dispute develops into a challenge to Infantino’s presidency, with CAF representing 54 of FIFA’s 211 voting associations and development funding remaining an important part of the relationship between FIFA and many national federations.The growing divide therefore leaves Infantino facing powerful institutional opposition while retaining meaningful support among individual associations, with the battle increasingly centred on whether UEFA and its allies can turn criticism of his leadership into enough votes to threaten his position before the 2027 election.