FIFA President Gianni Infantino has received the support of six Arab countries, who sent a joint statement on Thursday expressing their appreciation for the Swiss footballer, who has half the world of football against him (UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC sent a very harsh statement earlier this week and UEFA even maintains the threat of boycotting World Cup).
"Recognising the important role of Arab football in bringing people together and strengthening cooperation among football associations across the Arab world, we express our full support for Mr Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, and reaffirm our confidence in his leadership and continued commitment to the development of football worldwide", said a joint statement signed by the heads of the football federations of Qatar, Lebanon (part of AFC), Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, and Mauritania (part of CAF), as reported by Reuters.
This means that at least Qatar and Lebanon will vote in separate ways than most of the AFC members who joined UEFA and CONCACAF in their opposition against Infantino, who needs a simple majority of 106 to be re-elected as FIFA President at the next FIFA Council in 2027.
Between them, UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC have 136 of the 211 member associations, but each country has one vote, and they are free to vote whoever they want, so despite the mounting pressure, Infantino may still be able to find enough allies to be re-elected next year, despite some countries, most of them in Europe, have already confirmed they will vote against him.
