The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has declared its backing for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, positioning itself against the United States, Canada, and other Concacaf members. This move comes amid significant backlash against Infantino following his now-abandoned plans to sell stakes in the World Cup.
Concacaf, the governing body for football in North, Central America, and the Caribbean, had previously issued a statement expressing concern over the lack of due process regarding Infantino's proposals. The organization stated it was made aware of the matter through media reports and was concerned by the secrecy surrounding the plan before any discussions with relevant governance bodies had taken place.
In contrast, the FMF released a statement on Thursday night affirming its belief in institutional integrity and respect for governance processes. "The FMF supports President Infantino's leadership in continuing to promote the development of football through institutional strengthening," the federation stated, indicating it would not recognize processes convened outside the established institutional framework. The FMF embraced Infantino's call to collectively continue developing football for the benefit of its 211 member associations.
Following Mexico's announcement, the Argentinian Football Association also expressed support for Infantino's management over the past decade. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has similarly reaffirmed its support for the FIFA president.
Despite these declarations of support, European football's governing body, UEFA, has reiterated its loss of confidence in Infantino. UEFA previously stated that Infantino’s proposal would need to be withdrawn, and assurances given that such attempts would not be repeated, before it would lift a self-imposed boycott on World Cup participation. Reports suggest that UEFA expects Infantino's removal as a condition for European champions like Spain, England, France, and Germany to participate in future tournaments.
Infantino faced widespread outrage and opposition over his plans to sell stakes in the World Cup, which were subsequently dropped. FIFA announced on Wednesday that Infantino had the backing of its council members after crisis talks in Morocco, where FIFA stated that executives had given their "acknowledged 'mistakes' in the dropped plan." FIFA has since apologized in a letter to its member associations and committed to a review.
FIFPRO, the global union for professional footballers, also criticized Infantino and the FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme, calling it an "abuse of presidential power." The union stated that the withdrawal of the plan did not erase what it revealed about the process, which was conceived in secrecy. FIFPRO is advocating for governance reforms and legally binding engagement with stakeholders on decisions of major consequence, including voting rights on the FIFA council, to prevent similar situations in the future. The union emphasized that confidence in FIFA's leadership has been fundamentally broken and cannot be restored through statements or internal reviews alone.