Infantino can rely on enough votes to survive, opponents rethink strategy, sources say

Fifa President Gianni Infantino can count on enough votes to win re-election, meaning his opponents will need to shift strategy and focus on curbing his powers, a sharp reversal weeks after senior football figures believed his position was untenable, multiple sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters. “Three weeks ago, I thought he was dead,” one global football source with first-hand knowledge of discussions among senior officials said of Infantino’s chances of keeping his job. “What I didn’t realise was the extent to which, after ten years in power, the relationships he has built are almost unbreakable. ” Swiss-Italian Infantino, 56, faced the biggest challenge to his presidency this year following the collapse of his proposal to sell a 20 per cent stake in Fifa competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors.

The plan prompted fierce opposition, with Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation and North America’s Concacaf among those calling for change at the top of Fifa. Several European national associations have since withdrawn backing for Infantino’s re-election, with France becoming the latest on Thursday. Despite Fifa Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom lamenting what he called the “sad and reproachable series of events” that led to the project being abandoned, he later reaffirmed his full support for Infantino after a crisis meeting in Rabat. But as the immediate crisis has receded, the electoral arithmetic has become increasingly daunting, opponents to Infantino’s re-election say. No challenger capable of commanding sufficient support across Fifa’s 211 member associations has yet emerged ahead of the March election, while Infantino retains strong backing among smaller football nations and important blocs outside Europe. At the Fifa Congress,…