On Thursday, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) unanimously reconfirmed its support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, handing the embattled Swiss administrator a crucial lifeline as he fights to retain his grip on world football’s governing body. The endorsement, delivered after an emergency meeting of FIFA’s management board in Rabat, came with the backing of 54 member associations – more than a quarter of FIFA’s 211 votes – and was echoed by individual football leaders from Morocco, Egypt, Niger, Mauritania and DR Congo. CAF president Patrice Motsepe said the body welcomed FIFA’s apology for mistakes in the now-abandoned commercial proposal and remained committed to governance and transparency.

The crisis was triggered by Infantino’s plan to create a subsidiary, the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to sell minority stakes in World Cup revenues to private investors. Unveiled on 28 July, the scheme drew immediate condemnation from national federations who complained they had been excluded from the process. FIFA withdrew the proposal and, on 6 August, issued a joint apology from Infantino and secretary general Mattias Grafström, acknowledging errors in communication and process while insisting all actions complied with its regulatory framework. The apology did little to quell the revolt.

Europe’s governing body, UEFA, remained unmoved. It reiterated that its conditions for lifting a boycott of FIFA competitions had not been met: the proposal had been withdrawn, but no assurances had been given that such attempts to “disfigure the game” would not be repeated. UEFA said it had lost confidence in Infantino’s presidency, a position it said “holds”. Several European associations, including England, Wales, Croatia, Serbia, Sweden, Finland and Albania, formally withdrew their endorsements of Infantino’s re-election bid. The global players’ union FIFPRO called the FFE plan a “profound abuse of presidential power”. CONCACAF, the North and Central American confederation, demanded a “comprehensive reckoning”, and the Asian Football Confederation stood in solidarity with UEFA and CONCACAF.

Yet Infantino’s support base, while eroded, has not collapsed. South America’s CONMEBOL, while criticising “repeated unilateral actions”, rejected any attempt to oust him outside a vote of all 211 members. Argentina’s football association, acknowledging errors in the FFE process, expressed its backing for Infantino’s leadership ahead of next year’s Congress. Mexico, a co-host of the 2026 World Cup, broke ranks with CONCACAF to support the president, insisting on institutional process. No clear challenger has emerged, and nominations for the election close on 18 November.

The standoff leaves FIFA facing a protracted war of attrition. UEFA has signalled that its non-cooperation will extend beyond boycotts to a refusal to engage on the practical arrangements needed to stage competitions, a tactic that could render the global game “ungovernable”. The first test of that stance may come in September, when the women’s Under-20 World Cup is due to be held in Poland. With the FIFA Congress in Morocco in March 2027 looming, Infantino’s path to a fourth term remains open but increasingly contested.