The Asian Football Confederation has endorsed Gianni Infantino for a fourth term as FIFA president, giving the governing body of world football a significant show of support ahead of next year’s election.
AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa announced the decision at the confederation’s extraordinary congress in Tokyo on Friday, while acknowledging that not every member may follow the organisation’s position.
“We affirm our full commitment to supporting you and your leadership as you seek a new mandate as the FIFA president,” Sheikh Salman told Infantino.
The AFC has 47 members, and the backing of those that support the endorsement could prove important to Infantino’s bid for another mandate. The election is due to take place in March, with the deadline for rival candidates to file on 18 November. No challenger has yet filed.
Asian football reverses position on Infantino
The endorsement marks a reversal from the AFC’s position just over two months ago, when it joined the European and North and Central American football governing bodies in accusing Infantino of a “fundamental breach of trust”.
Infantino apologised last week to FIFA’s 37-member ruling council in Zurich for “mistakes” made while putting together a now-abandoned plan to sell private investors a stake in FIFA events, including the World Cup. The proposed deal was valued at 4.2 billion dollars.
Sheikh Salman referred to the earlier disagreement but said it should not be linked to the confederation’s current position.
“Gianni, I want to make it clear: Yes, we had some issues we spoke about in the past,” he said. “But let’s not relate the two things together. I think the last few days we met in Zurich, you made it clear that there’s a true understanding between us.”
He added: “The past I’m sure is part of our history. We’ve all, I’m sure, learned important lessons from it. What matters now is how we move forward together.”
Sheikh Salman also praised Infantino’s extensive travel as he seeks support around the world, joking that FIFA’s president might have a “clone”. He concluded by saying: “As one Asian family, we are ready to move forward, united in your support, Gianni. I want to make that clear today.”
Infantino acknowledges mistakes
Infantino accepted the AFC’s backing in a speech that included a reference to errors made during his leadership.
“When you do many things, you do – hopefully, as we did, many good things – you do some mistakes as well,” he said. “The important, however, is, as you said, to learn, to learn always from the experience, from the mistakes, to apologise, to move ahead, to come together, to unite, to build for our future, for your future.”
He also highlighted increased financial support for FIFA’s network of member countries, saying each had received 1 million dollars every four years before he became president and would receive 25 million dollars from 1 January next year.
