Wales becomes first to withhold support for FIFA president

The Football Association of Wales has refused to back Gianni Infantino's bid for re-election as president of FIFA, becoming the first national football association to publicly withhold its support.

The move follows controversy over Infantino's now-abandoned proposal to sell a stake in the commercial rights to the FIFA World Cup to private investors, Caliber.Az reports, citing the BBC.

The plan envisioned creating a new company, FIFA Forward Enterprise, to manage FIFA's flagship men's and women's tournaments.

Infantino argued the initiative would boost revenues for FIFA's member associations and support football development worldwide, with FIFA estimating it could attract $4.2 billion in investment.

The proposal, however, faced widespread criticism and was ultimately shelved.

The plan was rejected by UEFA, CONCACAF, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and CONMEBOL.

UEFA also announced a boycott of FIFA competitions over the proposal and later said it had lost confidence in Infantino's leadership after he suspended the project.

According to The Telegraph, UEFA is considering a vote of no confidence if Infantino does not step down voluntarily.

The newspaper also reported that several European football associations intend to withdraw their letters of support for his candidacy.

Of UEFA's 55 members, 52 initially backed Infantino, with only Germany, Romania and Norway declining to do so.

Infantino, 56, was first elected FIFA president at an extraordinary congress in February 2016 and has since been re-elected twice unopposed.

The next FIFA presidential election is scheduled for March 2027.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov