October 26 – Embattled FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has said that he is “backed by the vast majority” of football associations as he seeks a new term at the helm of the governing body.
On the sidelines of the U-15 World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, Infantino defended his actions in a rare interview with the BBC. The FIFA boss has faced intense criticism over his abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, a plan to sell of the World Cup to private equity.
He said: “There is nothing bad in disagreeing. We see it every day in so many countries in the world. It’s OK to disagree. It’s OK to have different points of view, but then we need to be able to move on.”
The BBC asked Infantino if he had at any point during the scandal of the last few months considered resigning. Infantino laughed and said: “Well you know I was elected by 211 member associations from all over the world. I think what is important is that in an organisation like Fifa, there can be different views, different points of view.”
“But if we are serious about democracy, about the democratic process, about believing that everyone has the same vote and the same voice all over the world, that football belongs to everyone, if we are serious about that, then we need, to respect as well the views of the vast, vast majority.”
“I’m just coming back off Tokyo where the Asian Football Confederation has fully endorsed me. I was in Cape Verde where all African countries have endorsed me. I’m speaking to all associations everywhere in the world.”
Last week, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said it supported Infantino at an extraordinary congress in Tokyo.
The AFC had been one of three confederations to strongly oppose Infantino following his World Cup privitisation plans, but while UEFA has always maintained that Infantino crossed a red line, Infantino enjoyed support, firstly in Qatar and then in Saudi Arabia – the regions financial shot callers – even before AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa endorsed him in Japan.
Today, the FIFA president has had confederation support from Asia, Africa and South America, leaving UEFA isolated in their fight to oust him from office.
UEFA questioned Infantino at a recent FIFA Council in Zurich, but the FIFA boss refused to reply to questions. The European governing body, which also filed motions in US courts targeting the discovery of FFE-related documents, has since set FIFA a deadline of November 2 to address its questions and release documents.
Infantino said: “We’ll answer of course all the questions that are asked as far as the process allows, as far as we can.”
The deadline for candidates to confirm they will run against Infantino is November 18.
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