Gianni Infantino says he has the support of the 'overwhelming majority' in his bid for re-election as FIFA president

Infantino is counting on a fourth term

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that in his bid for re-election to a fourth term he enjoys the support of the 'overwhelming, overwhelming majority' of national associations, despite criticism of his scrapped plan to sell part of the commercial rights of world football's tournaments to private investors. According to AFP, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) publicly backed the 56-year-old official on Friday, a significant boost to his position.

From a scrapped plan to the confederations' support

Two months ago Infantino's future in the post was in doubt: his plan to sell part of the commercial rights to competitions run by FIFA to private investors provoked fierce criticism. The heads of UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF (the confederation of North and Central America) signed a letter stating that football 'does not belong to anyone individually'. However, Infantino, who apologised last week for the failed private investment project, is now, according to AFP's assessment, in a strong position for re-election in March.

Statements and election timeline

'In an organisation like FIFA there can be different views, different points of view,' Infantino said in an interview with the BBC on Saturday. 'But if we take democracy seriously, the democratic process, the fact that everyone has an equal voice and that football belongs to everyone, then we must also respect the opinion of the overwhelming majority.' He added that he had just returned from Tokyo, where the AFC gave him its full support, and had earlier been in Cape Verde, where all the African countries backed him. He said he communicates with associations around the world. No other candidates have come forward so far: the deadline for nominations is 18 November, that is, in less than a month. 'It is the member associations of FIFA who will decide whom they want as president and how FIFA should be run,' Infantino concluded.

Why it matters

The fate of the FIFA presidency is effectively decided through the support of the confederations, and the public backing of the AFC and the African federations, with no rivals in sight, makes Infantino's re-election in March all but a foregone conclusion — even though the final list of candidates is not yet known. For the national federations, this means that the dispute over selling commercial rights to private investors, which triggered the crisis, has for now been settled politically: the project has been scrapped and its author has strengthened his position. The key uncertainty is a possible rival entering the race before 18 November; sources report neither potential challengers nor details of the investment plan's future fate.