World Football Divisions Emerge Over FIFA President Gianni Infantino
UEFA and Norway demand resignation while South American and African authorities back the FIFA chief.
En resumen
Deep divisions emerge in world football as UEFA and Norway's federation demand FIFA President Gianni Infantino's resignation over boycott threats, while South American and African authorities rally in his support during a visit to Colombia.
Resumen generado por IA
Por qué importa
UEFA and various national bodies are in conflict with FIFA leadership, leading to boycott threats.
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.
But the Swiss lawyer has friends around the world, and those in the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) have nailed their colours firmly to the 56-year-old’s mast.
A guest at Friday’s inauguration of Colombia’s hard-right president Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, a smiling Infantino was pictured alongside Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez and the head of the Colombian federation, Ramon Jesurun.
Preguntas abiertas
- Will UEFA proceed with boycotting FIFA events?
- How will African federations officially vote in future leadership contests?
