Will Asia turn its back on Fifa chief Gianni Infantino amid global divide in football?
The article examines the growing geopolitical divide within FIFA regarding the leadership of Gianni Infantino. While European federations push for his resignation, many South American and some Asian nations continue to support his presidency.
Why it matters
FIFA's internal power struggles impact the governance of the world's most popular sport and influence the distribution of global football development funds.
As the fight for the heart and soul of world football rumbles into a second weekend, a much clearer picture of the battle lines has started to emerge and in some cases divisions within camps are already obvious.
Firmly in the anti-Gianni Infantino brigade stands Uefa, and, as of Friday, on the other side of the field the football authorities of Africa and South America.
In a statement that came as little surprise, Norway’s federation said the trust was gone and asked the Fifa president to resign. The head of the country’s governing body, Lise Klaveness, is among those many would back to take the under-fire Infantino’s place.
The European governing body, meanwhile, said it was not satisfied with the apology that came this week, and maintained that the threat to boycott Fifa events still stood.
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