Argentina and Mexico join Africa in backing FIFA’s Infantino: What to know

World football’s growing divide has deepened with the declarations of support for FIFA’s defiant Gianni Infantino by Argentina and Mexico, coming only a day after Africa unanimously voted to back the president of football’s global governing body.

Infantino continues to face fierce backlash over a now-abandoned proposal to sell off a number of commercial rights to the World Cup and other FIFA events.

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Following a meeting in Rabat this week, FIFA said it had apologised to its members for mistakes around the proposal. It also pledged to review the processes that led to the controversy, but backed its president.

Infantino’s biggest opponent remains UEFA, the sport’s governing body in Europe, which confirmed on Thursday that it stands by its vote to boycott FIFA. One of its members, Norway, has now called for the Swiss Italian’s resignation.

Al Jazeera takes a look at the growing standoff, which is pushing countries and entire continents in different directions.

Why is Argentina and Mexico’s backing of Infantino so significant?

Although only football associations, not continental confederations, the move by Mexico and Argentina will come as a significant boost to Infantino, but is also a prime example of the civil war brewing in the so-called “people’s game”.

In supporting Infantino, the Mexican ⁠Football Federation (FMF), cohosts of the recently concluded 2026 World Cup, have crucially broken ranks with their own regional confederation by backing Infantino after CONCACAF called for a “comprehensive reckoning” with his presidency.

“The FMF will neither recognise nor ‌approve any process convened outside of that institutional framework, and it joins the call made … by President Infantino to collectively continue developing football for the benefit of the 211 member associations,” it said in a statement.

“The FMF supports President Infantino’s leadership in continuing to promote the development of football through institutional strengthening.”

South America’s CONMEBOL issued a statement on Thursday rejecting any attempt to oust Infantino that did not involve a vote of all 211 members – a move that seems to counter the stance taken by UEFA.

In a letter to Infantino, Argentina’s football association (AFA), whose team failed to defend their Qatar 2022 title in the final of the 2026 edition, moved beyond the statement from its confederation by expressing its outright support of Infantino.

The AFA cited FIFA’s work over ⁠the last 10 years, saying it had “centred on the development of football worldwide and institutional strength based on a clear, stable, and transparent governance model”.

While the AFA acknowledged that the proposal generated far ⁠more uncertainties than certainties and that errors had been made, it said the ⁠way forward was to continue working under FIFA’s leadership before next year’s Congress.

That will be staged in Morocco in March, where Infantino is expected to be challenged for the presidency, having been unopposed in his two re-elections.

CONMEBOL’s earlier statement had expressed concerns over the “repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue”, stressing the importance of institutional reforms FIFA introduced more than a decade ago to promote transparency.

Why is Africa’s backing so key for Infantino after CAF vote?

On Thursday, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) unanimously backed Infantino’s leadership.

Africa’s body is the second-largest on football’s global stage with 54 members, only one less than UEFA.

That is a significant number for Infantino to call upon to counter UEFA’s threat, if he can continue to draw upon the support he has so far been given from parts of Asia.

CAF President Patrice Motsepe is a longtime ally of Infantino, but to have secured the backing of the entire membership on the continent strengthens Infantino’s hand against any short-term challenges – as well as before his bid for a fourth presidential term.

What has the Norway federation said about their Infantino resignation call?

Norwegian Football ⁠Federation (NFF) ⁠President Lise Klaveness called for the resignation of Infantino on Friday, saying he no longer ⁠had the confidence of the football community.

“He does not have the institutional trust required to govern ‌FIFA stably in the times we are in,” Klaveness ⁠told reporters following the ⁠NFF’s monthly board meeting.

“There is no going back for Gianni Infantino. The international football cooperation is very much in ⁠trouble, and we must ⁠have a reason to get together now, and we want to ask the ⁠FIFA president to resign now.”

What is the AFC’s stance and what Asian members support FIFA?

Asia’s confederation said it “stood in solidarity” with UEFA and CONCACAF, which runs football in North and Central America as well as the Caribbean.

Asian Football Confederation ‌(AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa issued his own statement, before his organisation’s public stance, to brand FIFA’s lack of consultation over its plan ⁠to sell stakes in ⁠the World Cup to private investors “totally unacceptable”, saying the move undermined the sport’s existing continental structure.

The AFC did not threaten a boycott in its backing of UEFA and CONCACAF, but has since welcomed the withdrawal of Infantino’s proposal.

An interesting twist is Sheikh Salman’s failed presidential bid in 2016 when he was defeated by Infantino, and the speculation that he is set to stand again in the upcoming election.

Indonesia, Qatar, Kuwait, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, who are all part of the AFC bloc, have come out in support of Infantino.

What other voices have joined the great debate on FIFA’s Infantino?

The Croatian Football Federation on Thursday were among the individual national associations to withdraw support ‌for Infantino, following similar moves from England and Albania.

“This decision followed a thorough reassessment within the federation in light of recent developments surrounding the FIFA World Cup 2026 and discussions within our governing bodies,” Croatia’s federation said.

Also on Thursday, players’ union FIFPRO said Infantino’s proposal ‌was ‌not just a governance failure but a “profound abuse of presidential power”.

FIFA has said that all actions taken over the commercial rights proposal complied with its regulations and stressed that mistakes related to process and communication rather than breaches of governance rules.