Infantino loses Ireland: FAI withdraws support as FIFA revolt widens

Gianni Infantino’s pursuit of a fourth term as FIFA president has suffered another significant blow, with the Football Association of Ireland formally withdrawing the endorsement it handed him earlier this year. The decision, confirmed after a board meeting on Thursday, makes the Republic of Ireland the third home nation to abandon the world governing body’s chief, and it landed alongside a pointed declaration of backing for UEFA from the Irish Football Association across the border in Belfast.

Dublin rescinds its letter of support

The FAI said it had rescinded the letter of support supplied during the first half of the year and had already been in touch with FIFA to set out its position. The association was careful to acknowledge the funding that flows from FIFA into Irish football, expressing gratitude for that backing, but insisted recent events had raised significant concerns over governance, transparency and a lack of meaningful consultation. It then reached for a pointed parallel: having fought through its own governance crisis in recent years, the FAI argued it feels a particular obligation to champion best practice — a barely veiled reference to the scandals that forced sweeping reform of Irish football’s governing body.

Home nations fall away one by one

The withdrawal completes a stunning collapse in Infantino’s support across the British Isles. Wales became the first home nation to pull out last week, with the Football Association following suit days later. Northern Ireland has stopped short of formally withdrawing, but the IFA has made clear it supports UEFA’s position and shares the concerns circulating within the football community. For a president who once counted these associations among his most dependable allies, the symbolism is unmistakable.

The abandoned investment scheme still haunts him

The rupture flows from the abandoned scheme to sell private investors a slice of FIFA’s commercial operations — a project intended to raise billions that foundered amid widespread opposition. On Monday, UEFA joined CONCACAF and the Asian confederation in an open letter accusing Infantino of breaking trust through deception, leaving his re-election campaign in a perilous state.

Africa points to the ballot box

Even Africa, widely seen as Infantino’s strongest remaining redoubt, is now talking of an orderly exit. CAF president Patrice Motsepe, who also serves as a FIFA vice-president, told Sky News in an interview published on Thursday that the organisation’s 211 member associations should decide the president’s future when they vote next year. If critics wanted Infantino gone, Motsepe argued, the proper route was the election rather than public pressure, insisting the ballot would reveal whether confidence in the leadership remained. He conceded that there was plenty to fix and that the process had been problematic, while noting that Infantino had apologised and pointing to CAF legal advice that no rules were breached because members would have held the final say.

The countdown to Rabat

That vote is scheduled for the FIFA Congress in Rabat in March 2027, with the nomination window opening as soon as November. Infantino retains pockets of support — Argentina, Mexico and six Arab federations have publicly stood by him — and confederations do not cast votes as blocs, so the arithmetic is not yet fatal. But the trajectory is brutal: a president who began the summer planning another term now faces open defiance from three of the six confederations and, increasingly, from the associations on his own doorstep. His critics cannot force the ballot to come around quickly enough; for Infantino, every passing day of this crisis makes it feel further away.

Read BBC Sport’s report on the FAI’s decision, and the FAI statement as carried by BreakingNews.ie.