Fifa: “I speak to all the associations”, Gianni Infantino turned the world of football upside down in a few weeks

The president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, assured Saturday on the BBC that he had broad support from member associations in the race for his re-election despite the numerous criticisms against him since his aborted project to open the World Cup to private investors.

This statement comes the day after the turnaround of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), whose support for the 56-year-old Italian-Swiss leader could provide him with essential new momentum for a fourth term.

Infantino's future was still very uncertain two months ago because of his project, strongly criticized then canceled, to create a company responsible for managing the commercial activities of Fifa and selling minority shares to private investors.

UEFA, the AFC and the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf) had signed a letter to affirm in particular that football “does not belong to any individual”.

But now Gianni Infantino, who apologized last week for this project, is once again in a strong position to be re-elected next March.

“I think the important thing is that in an organization like FIFA there can be different opinions, different points of view,” he told the BBC on Saturday. “But if we take democracy seriously, the democratic process, if we believe that everyone has the same vote and the same voice across the world, that football belongs to everyone (...) then we must also respect the opinions of the vast, vast majority.”

“I have just returned from Tokyo where the Asian Confederation gave me its full support. I was in Cape Verde where all the African countries supported me. I speak to all the associations all over the world,” he assured.

For the moment, no other candidate has publicly applied against Gianni Infantino less than a month before the deadline for submitting applications, set for November 18.

“There are different points of view, it is not always easy to bring them all under one roof but we must respect and I respect all opinions. Then, it will be up to the member associations of Fifa to decide who they want as president and how they want Fifa to be run,” he added.