Mexico and Argentina’s football associations have publicly backed Fifa president Gianni Infantino, even as the global football chief faces significant criticism over a now-shelved proposal to sell off commercial rights to the World Cup.
The controversy has cast a shadow over Infantino’s re-election bid in March.
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF), a co-host of the recent World Cup, has notably diverged from its regional confederation, Concacaf, which had called for a “comprehensive reckoning” with Infantino’s presidency.
The FMF stated: “The FMF will neither recognise nor approve any process convened outside of that institutional framework, and it joins the call made… by President Infantino to collectively continue developing football for the benefit of the 211 member associations.”
It added: “The FMF supports President Infantino’s leadership in continuing to promote the development of football through institutional strengthening.”
Meanwhile, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has also thrown its support behind Infantino, despite South America’s Conmebol, while rejecting any attempt to oust Infantino without a vote involving all 211 members, voicing concerns over “repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue.”
The AFA acknowledged that the World Cup sell-off proposal “generated far more uncertainties than certainties and that errors had been made”, but expressed support for Fifa’s work, stating it had “centred on the development of soccer worldwide and institutional strength based on a clear, stable, and transparent governance model.” The AFA believes the path forward is to continue under Fifa’s current leadership.
Support for Infantino also came from the Confederation of African Football (Caf), which unanimously endorsed his leadership on Thursday.
However, European football’s governing body, Uefa, has maintained its commitment to boycotting the World Cup and other Fifa competitions in protest until Infantino is removed from his position.
Asia’s confederation also declared it “stood in solidarity” with Uefa and Concacaf, which oversees football in North and Central America, as well as the Caribbean.
Several national associations have withdrawn their support for Infantino. The Croatian Football Federation joined England and Albania in this move, explaining: “This decision followed a thorough reassessment within the federation in light of recent developments surrounding the FIFA World Cup 2026 and discussions within our governing bodies.”
The players’ union, Fifpro, went further, describing Infantino’s proposal as not merely a governance failure but a “profound abuse of presidential power.”
In response to the widespread criticism, Fifa has apologised to its members for “mistakes around the proposal” and pledged to review the processes that led to the controversy.
The organisation maintains that all actions taken regarding the commercial rights proposal complied with its regulations, stressing that any errors were related to process and communication rather than breaches of governance rules.
Infantino’s re-election for a fourth term in March, once considered a certainty, now faces a more complex landscape, though no clear challenger has yet emerged.
