The French Football Federation (FFF) has withdrawn its support for the re-election of Gianni Infantino as FIFA president.
Infantino, who is currently set to run unopposed next March, has faced widespread criticism over his failed plans to sell stakes in the World Cup and FIFA’s other major tournaments to private investors.
Those proposals sparked outrage across the football world, and it emerged last month that European football’s governing body, UEFA, is pursuing a criminal complaint against Infantino.
UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and North America’s CONCACAF have all called for change at the top of FIFA and are seeking a credible alternative to Infantino.
England’s Football Association and the Italian Football Federation are among the European FIFA members to have withdrawn their backing for Infantino.
And on Thursday they were joined by the FFF after its Executive Committee voted unanimously to take that step.
A statement from the FFF read: “The FFF withdraws its support for Gianni Infantino’s re-election and calls for fundamental reform of FIFA’s governance.
“Meeting today in Paris at the request of its President, Philippe Diallo, the Executive Committee of the French Football Federation unanimously decided to withdraw the FFF’s support for Gianni Infantino ahead of the FIFA presidential election, which is due to take place on 18 March 2027 in Rabat (Morocco).
“Whilst support had initially been given to the FIFA President, who was then the sole candidate for his own succession, the conditions for that support are no longer met.
“A series of events directly involving FIFA’s governance and its President, and in direct conflict with the fundamental principles of good governance and the values of football, occurred after the FFF expressed its support on 29 June.”
FFF: FIFA governance not fixed by failure of Infantino’s plans
The FFF made it clear that, while Infantino’s ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’ plans had not come to fruition, the failure of the proposals does not fix the problems at the top of world football’s governing body.
Its statement continued: “At the end of July, a plan spearheaded by the FIFA President was revealed, aimed at creating a commercial company incorporating, in particular, the rights to the World Cup and opening up its share capital to external investors.
“The FFF, through its President, emphasised that “a project with such a significant impact on the future of football could not be envisaged without comprehensive information, in-depth consultation and a fully transparent decision-making process. FIFA’s governance does not live up to the standards that football represents.”
“Today, whilst this project has been definitively abandoned thanks to a concerted response within UEFA in conjunction with several other confederations, the issue of FIFA’s governance cannot be considered resolved.
“It is against this backdrop – where the FIFA President’s recent initiatives have seriously damaged the image and unity of football – that the FFF has decided to withdraw its support for Gianni Infantino ahead of the FIFA presidential election in March 2027.
“The FFF calls for the development, in consultation with the confederations, national associations and all stakeholders (players, supporters, etc.), of a plan for world football to undertake a far-reaching reform of FIFA’s governance and to continue the development of football by combining excellence and solidarity.
“With this objective in mind, the FFF will, in the coming days, launch a series of consultations with leading French and international figures whose expertise in governance, including beyond the sporting sphere, is widely recognised.
“The aim of these consultations will be to foster collective reflection and to draw up proposals for a far-reaching transformation of FIFA’s governance, with a view to restoring confidence, enhancing transparency and ensuring the independence and exemplary conduct of world football’s governing body.
“The FFF, a founding member of FIFA, thus intends to contribute to a debate that is vital for the future of football, its regulation and its development.”
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