France turn on Infantino! FFF withdraws support and demands FIFA governance revolution
The walls are closing in on Gianni Infantino: France, one of football's superpowers, have officially withdrawn their support for his re-election.
Details: The FFF announced on Thursday that its executive committee voted unanimously to pull support for Infantino ahead of the March 2027 FIFA presidential election. The federation said his recent governance initiatives had seriously damaged the image and unity of football, and called for a profound reform of FIFA's governance. France join Belgium, Italy, Scotland, Sweden, Wales, England and others in abandoning the Swiss president.
The breaking point was Infantino's aborted plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity for 4.2 billion dollars, a project scrapped on August 1 after a furious backlash led by UEFA, which has lost confidence in him and even threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments. The FFF, which had backed him as sole candidate back in June, now says the conditions for that support no longer exist. Infantino, in power since 2016, still intends to stand for a fourth and final term at the Rabat congress, and retains firm backing from Africa's CAF and much of South America. But with Europe's heavyweights deserting him one by one, the most powerful man in world football faces the fight of his life just to stay in the job.
It's worth noting that Infantino flew over 50,000 km on a private jet during this summer's World Cup, a detail critics cite as emblematic of an era they want ended.
Reminder: Infantino is losing his footing! Federations are massively withdrawing their support.
Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
