France withdraws support for Infantino in FIFA presidential election

FIFA President Gianni Infantino. [AFP]

France will not support the candidacy of Gianni Infantino, who is running for a new term as FIFA president in March 2027, the French Football Federation (FFF) announced yesterday.

The FFF is aligning itself with the position of other European federations such as Belgium, Italy, Scotland, Sweden and Wales, which have also publicly withdrawn support for Infantino.

FIFA confirmed last weekend that Infantino will stand for president in an election next March, despite the backlash over his now-abandoned plan to bring private investment into the men's and women's World Cups.

At this stage, the 56-year-old from Switzerland is the only candidate. However, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani is widely seen as a likely challenger to the incumbent.

"We believe that the trust placed in the FIFA president has been betrayed, and that the way in which the governance of world football is envisaged no longer reflects us," FFF president Philippe Diallo said in a statement.

"That is why, by a unanimous decision of its members, the French Football Federation has decided to withdraw its support for Gianni Infantino's candidacy for the FIFA presidency."

The move by the French federation, while expected, is likely to sting Infantino.

Diallo added that France "has a historic legitimacy as one of the founding nations of FIFA, and it has the right to intervene when it has the feeling that FIFA and its president are going off course in their governance of world football".

"It also has sporting legitimacy, having been in the top three in the FIFA rankings for the last 10 years."

Infantino replaced Sepp Blatter as president of world football's governing body in 2016. He has come under severe pressure since the announcement in late July of proposals to create a commercial subsidiary to run its biggest events, such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.

The plan would have allowed private investors to acquire stakes in a company created under the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative. The backlash that followed led to the proposals being quickly shelved.

European football's governing body UEFA had threatened to boycott FIFA competitions in response. It later suspended that threat, but has urged Infantino to resign and has been preparing possible legal action against him for alleged "criminal mismanagement".

The FFF said it would begin a consultation process before deciding who to support against Infantino in the election, which will take place at the FIFA Congress to be held in the Moroccan capital Rabat.

Montagliani, a FIFA vice-president, had long been regarded as a close ally of Infantino, but there were signs of him distancing himself even before the now-scrapped private investment plans.