France becomes the fifth federation to withdraw support for Infantino

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The French Football Federation withdrew its support for Gianni Infantino's bid for another term as FIFA president, joining England, Italy, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland in distancing themselves from the FIFA chief. The FFF's executive committee decision was unanimous, and the federation said the conditions behind its original June 29th endorsement, made when Infantino was still the sole declared candidate, are no longer met given a series of subsequent events involving FIFA's governance

The trigger was Infantino's now abandoned plan to sell stakes in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors for 4.2 billion dollars. FIFA withdrew that proposal on August 1st following intense pushback, but the FFF insisted the underlying governance issue cannot be considered resolved just because the specific deal was scrapped, adding that Infantino's recent initiatives have seriously damaged the image and unity of football. FFF president Philippe Diallo said a project with this much impact on football's future could not be pursued without comprehensive information, in-depth consultation and a fully transparent decision-making process

UEFA has led calls for Infantino to step down and previously threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments over the plan, with the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf also calling for his departure, though he retains backing from South America's CONMEBOL and Africa's CAF. The FIFA presidential election is scheduled for March, and France says it will now launch consultations with leading French and international figures on far-reaching FIFA governance reform. Curious what people think happens next here, does this growing wave of major European federations withdrawing support actually threaten Infantino's re-election, or does support from other continental confederations make his position genuinely secure regardless

France seeks to transform Fifa after withdrawing Infantino supportwww.bbc.com