Six Arab federations backed Infantino. Two of them belong to a confederation that spoke out against him
The joint statement was signed by Qatar, Lebanon, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, and Mauritania. Four of the six signatories are members of the FIFA Council
The football federations of six Arab countries have issued a joint statement in support of FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The document was signed by the heads of the associations of Qatar, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Egypt, and Mauritania, Reuters reports.
“Recognizing the important role of Arab football in bringing peoples closer together and strengthening cooperation between the football associations of the Arab world, we express our full support for Mr. Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, and confirm our confidence in his leadership and unwavering commitment to the development of football throughout the world,” the joint statement says.
Four of the six signatories are members of the FIFA Council — the organization’s executive body, consisting of 37 people.
Why this matters
The significance of the statement is determined by the composition of the signatories. Qatar and Lebanon belong to the Asian Football Confederation, which on August 10, together with UEFA and CONCACAF, signed an open letter criticizing Infantino and demanding an independent review. Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, and Mauritania represent the African Confederation, which had earlier unanimously supported the FIFA president.
Thus, two Asian federations have publicly diverged from the position of their own confederation — as Mexico, a member of CONCACAF, did earlier.
As 1news.az reported, this is precisely where the main difficulty lies for Infantino’s opponents: it is not the confederations that vote, but the 211 national associations by name, and a statement by a governing body does not bind its members.
The lineup
In recent days, support for Infantino has been expressed by Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, and Bolivia, as well as, according to media reports, Indonesia, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, the UAE, Mongolia, Bhutan, Nigeria, the Comoros, Malawi, Uganda, and Gambia. The African Confederation came out in his support on behalf of all 54 of its members, while CONMEBOL refused to support any attempts to remove the president without a vote of all 211 associations.
On the opposite side, England, Wales, Sweden, Finland, Serbia, Albania, and Croatia have withdrawn their support for Infantino’s reelection. The Croatian federation explained the decision by “a thorough reassessment within the federation in light of recent events surrounding the 2026 World Cup.”
Separately, the president of the Norwegian Football Federation, Lise Klaveness, spoke out, demanding Infantino’s immediate resignation. She is named among the possible candidates for the post of FIFA president.
What comes next
Candidacies for the election are put forward until November 18; the vote will take place in March 2027 at the FIFA Congress in Morocco. Winning requires 106 votes out of 211; convening an extraordinary Congress requires written appeals from 43 associations — no such appeals have been submitted.
The first practical test of the boycott announced by UEFA will be the Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which Poland is hosting starting September 5.
The Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan has not publicly stated its position.
