Wales Withdraws Support for Infantino's Re-election

Gianni Infantino’s grip on power at Fifa has taken a sharp, public hit, with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) dramatically withdrawing its backing for his re-election bid.

The move comes in direct response to Infantino’s botched attempt to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors – a plan so toxic it united three confederations against it and forced the Fifa president into an embarrassing retreat last week.

He shelved the proposal. The backlash has not been shelved with it.

Infantino, whose decade-long spell in charge of world football’s governing body has been dogged by questions over governance and priorities, is due to stand again in March for the 2027–2031 term. Until now, opposition had largely come in the form of criticism and calls for reviews. Wales has gone a step further and formally walked away.

In a starkly worded statement, the FAW confirmed it no longer supports the Swiss official’s candidacy, citing a catalogue of failures at the top of Fifa.

“The Football Association of Wales hereby confirms its withdrawal of support for the candidature of Mr Gianni Infantino, for re-election as Fifa president for the 2027–2031 term,” the statement read.

“The recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement have led us to a position where Mr Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football.

“Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept.”

Those words land in a climate already turning against Infantino.

On Friday, the UK prime minister, Andy Burnham, openly declared Infantino the “wrong man” to lead Fifa. England’s Football Association has demanded a “full and robust review” of his leadership, underlining a growing unease within the European game about how the organisation is being run and whose interests it serves.

The World Cup investment plan crystallised those concerns. Critics saw it as a tipping point: a commercial overreach that cut against the sport’s wider interests and Fifa’s duty of care to the global game. When three confederations rejected the idea, Infantino’s decision to back down was inevitable. The political damage was not.

Now Wales has become the first association to translate discontent into a concrete act of opposition. The question is whether others will follow before March – and how many cracks Infantino’s presidency can sustain before the whole structure starts to give way.