Infantino to meet Asian football leaders in Tokyo amid divided FIFA election support
The planned Wednesday meeting comes after a dispute over a withdrawn World Cup proposal. An Associated Press tally puts Infantino’s indicated support at 87 of FIFA’s 211 members.
Gianni Infantino is scheduled to meet Asian Football Confederation leaders in Tokyo on Wednesday as he campaigns for another term as FIFA president, the Associated Press reported on 20 October. The visit could matter because some of the votes he needs may come from Asia, where football associations are divided over his leadership.
The meeting is planned for a Tokyo hotel, with media access largely excluded, according to AP. FIFA has separately said that Infantino announced at its 76th Congress that he would stand for re-election in 2027. Wednesday’s meeting has yet to take place, and no endorsement resulting from it has been announced.
How much support does Infantino have?
AP counted 87 of FIFA’s 211 member federations as having indicated support for Infantino, either through individual comments or by endorsing statements from regional confederations. That tally records indications of support ahead of the election, rather than votes cast. AP reported that Qatar supports Infantino while Jordan opposes him; it described the largest bloc of opposition as coming from Europe.
Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa initially opposed Infantino and his proposal for a subsidiary to run the World Cup, AP reported. The Athletic has reported that Sheikh Salman may have moved closer to Infantino, according to AP; a change in his position has not been established.
The World Cup plan behind the dispute
Infantino apologized last week in Zurich to FIFA’s 37-member ruling council for ‘mistakes’ in assembling a now-scrapped $4.2 billion World Cup sell-off plan, according to AP. The council, which Infantino chairs, is FIFA’s principal decision-making body. AP reported that the AFC had joined criticism of the proposal, although its members have not taken a united position on Infantino’s re-election.
Infantino has offered critics an open, independent review of how FIFA makes decisions, AP reported. FIFA’s council is next scheduled to meet on 16 December in Doha, while the deadline for a challenger to file against Infantino is 18 November. Under FIFA rules cited by AP, a candidate must have been active in association football for two of the preceding five years and obtain declarations of support from at least five member federations.
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Sources and context
- Infantino set to take his FIFA re-election campaign to Japan to court Asian soccer federationsAssociated Press, republished by Yahoo Sports
- FIFA President Gianni Infantino tells 76th FIFA Congress he will stand for re-election in 2027FIFA
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.