The French Football Federation (FFF) has officially withdrawn its support for Gianni Infantino’s campaign to be re-elected as Fifa president next year.
The Swiss official has found himself under sustained pressure after being compelled to scrap a proposal to bring private investors into a venture designed to oversee Fifa’s tournaments, an idea rejected by three continental confederations.
A selection of European member associations – including those representing England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales – had previously withdrawn their endorsement for Infantino. France, who won the World Cup in 2018 before losing in the final to Argentina four years later, have now joined them in withdrawing their support.
“Whilst support had initially been given to the Fifa president, who was then the sole candidate for his own succession, the conditions for that support are no longer met,” stated an FFF press release issued on Thursday.
“A series of events directly involving Fifa’s governance and its president, and in direct conflict with the fundamental principles of good governance and the values of football, occurred after the FFF expressed its support on June 29.”
The statement continued: “Whilst this project has been definitively abandoned thanks to a concerted response within Uefa in conjunction with several other confederations, the issue of Fifa’s governance cannot be considered resolved.
“It is against this backdrop – where the Fifa president’s recent initiatives have seriously damaged the image and unity of football – that the FFF has decided to withdraw its support for Gianni Infantino ahead of the Fifa presidential election in March 2027.”
Infantino remains the only declared candidate for the upcoming election, with a Fifa spokesperson confirming last Sunday that his ambition to run again remains unaltered, despite weeks of mounting criticism and external pressure.
Uefa, European football’s governing body, has committed to offering a “credible” alternative candidate for voting associations to evaluate ahead of the 18 November submission deadline.
Within its statement, the FFF advocated for the creation of a strategy aiming for “far-reaching reform” of global football governance, adding that it will initiate a series of discussions with key French and international figures regarding the path forward.