France has withdrawn its support for Gianni Infantino’s bid for another term as FIFA president, the French Football Federation (FFF) announced on Thursday.
The FFF said it was aligning with the positions of other European football associations, including Belgium, Italy, Scotland, Sweden and Wales, which have also publicly withdrawn their backing for Infantino.
FIFA confirmed last weekend that Infantino would contest the presidential election scheduled for March 2027, despite criticism surrounding his now-abandoned proposal to introduce private investment into the men’s and women’s World Cups.
The 56-year-old Swiss remains the only declared candidate at this stage.
FFF president Philippe Diallo said the federation believed the trust placed in Infantino had been undermined and that FIFA’s current approach to governance no longer reflected its values.
“We believe that the trust placed in the FIFA president has been betrayed, and that the way in which the governance of world football is envisaged no longer reflects us,” Diallo said.
He added that the decision to withdraw support was reached unanimously by the FFF’s members.
“That is why, by a unanimous decision of its members, the French Football Federation has decided to withdraw its support for Gianni Infantino’s candidacy for the FIFA presidency,” he said.
