Infantino's Re-election Bid Faces Setback: France Refuses Support as Multiple European Football Associations Collectively Withdraw Endorsements

The French Football Federation announced on Thursday that it will no longer support FIFA incumbent president Gianni Infantino's bid for re-election. According to France 24, the French federation's stance aligns with other European national associations including Belgium, Italy, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales, which have successively publicly withdrawn their support for Infantino. The FIFA presidential election is scheduled for March 2027.

National football associations from Belgium, Italy, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales had previously made public statements withdrawing their support for Infantino, and the French federation's latest statement further expands this camp. Multiple European national associations have successively clarified their positions, forming collective pressure against Infantino's re-election.

Since his election in 2016 and re-election in 2019, Infantino has shaped FIFA into a highly commercialized global brand. Under his stewardship, cooperation between FIFA and Gulf states has notably deepened: the 2022 Qatar World Cup landed in the Middle East, and Gulf sovereign wealth funds have entered into multiple event sponsorship and broadcasting arrangements. While these arrangements have brought substantial revenue to FIFA, they have also continued to spark controversy over the deep entanglement of sports governance with geopolitical capital.

The French federation's latest statement is the most recent footnote to this controversy. As a member with significant voice in the European football landscape, France's clear refusal of support constitutes a substantive blow to Infantino's re-election strategy. The successive follow-up by football associations in Belgium, Italy, Sweden and other countries indicates that this round of withdrawn support is not an isolated action, but a clear collective stance.

France 24's report was presented in the form of video excerpts and did not specify the specific motivations behind the national associations' withdrawal of support, and neither FIFA nor Infantino himself has yet made a public response. Whether the real dissatisfaction of these associations points to governance direction, commercial cooperation models, or deeper issues of power distribution remains unclear.

As the March 2027 election date approaches, Infantino needs to rebuild his re-election coalition after losing the support of multiple European countries. The collective withdrawal by European football associations this time will become a key juncture for observing the internal power dynamics within FIFA.