Wales Withdraws Support for Infantino's Re-election Bid

Gianni Infantino’s grip on power at Fifa has come under fresh and very public strain, with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) dramatically withdrawing its backing for his re‑election bid.

The move makes Wales the first national association to formally abandon the Fifa president ahead of next March’s vote, and it lands just days after Infantino was forced into an embarrassing retreat over his attempt to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

That plan, pushed hard from Zurich, ran into a wall of opposition. Three confederations rejected it, critics lined up to denounce it, and last week Infantino finally announced he was shelving the proposal. The damage, though, is clearly lingering.

Political pressure has been piling up as well. The UK prime minister, Andy Burnham, said on Friday that Infantino is the “wrong man” to lead Fifa, a blunt assessment that cut through the usual diplomatic language around football governance. England’s Football Association followed by calling for a “full and robust review” of his leadership.

Now Wales has gone further.

In a starkly worded statement, the FAW confirmed it no longer supports the Swiss official’s candidacy for the 2027–2031 term. The governing body cited “recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement” and concluded that Infantino has “lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football”.

The key line was unforgiving: “Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept.”

For a president who has spent close to a decade consolidating power and building alliances across the game, the symbolism is striking. One association has now broken cover and put its objections on the record. Others are watching the fallout from the World Cup investment saga and the mounting criticism of his stewardship.

Infantino is still expected to stand in March. The question now is how many more FAs will decide that Wales has simply said out loud what many inside the game already think.