You have to admire Gianni Infantino\u2019s confidence that, despite everything that has happened around the FIFA president lately, he is still going to run for a fourth term as the leader of soccer\u2019s top governing body.<\/p>\n
FIFA confirmed Sunday that Infantino, who was first voted into the sport\u2019s top job in 2016, will seek re-election next year after winning unopposed in 2019 and 2023. He announced his plan to run again at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver in April, but there was some uncertainty if that was still the case after backlash from his failed FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal that would have seen private investment fill their \u2014 and his \u2014 pockets even more with minority stakes in its major tournaments, including the World Cups. <\/p>\n
There were calls for Infantino to resign when the plan failed, and regional governing bodies Concacaf, UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation have all withdrawn their support, though there has been backing for the Italian from Africa and some major powers like Argentina, Mexico and 2022 men\u2019s hosts Qatar.<\/p>\n
Controversy seems to follow every FIFA president, it comes with being at the top of one of the most scrutinized organizations in the world, but Infantino has never made it easy for himself either.<\/p>\n
Related Reading: Concacaf, UEFA, AFC pile pressure on FIFA boss Gianni Infantino with joint statement: \u2018Trust is broken\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n The FFE fallout was the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back and then kicked it when it was down.<\/p>\n Infantino also came under fire at this summer\u2019s World Cup for his decision to unsuspend American striker Folarin Balogun ahead of their Round of 16 match against Belgium following a call from U.S. President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n Balogun had been sent off in the Round of 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina for a high tackle on a Bosnian player, and was due to miss the Belgium clash until Trump called Infantino and asked him to overturn the ban as it would not be fair for his nation to be without their best player in the tournament to that point. Infantino, whose relationship with Trump was always too close for some onlookers<\/a>, obliged \u2014 to the outrage of much of the sporting world. <\/p>\n Balogun himself did not ask for anyone to appeal something that can\u2019t be appealed, but was caught up in the circus and will always be associated with the chaos. He was ineffective in the Round of 16 game that Belgium won 4-1 anyway, celebrating with a Trump-like dance. <\/p>\n Having the FIFA president make decisions because the President of a country wants him to this summer was enough for Belgium to officially withdraw their support for Infantino<\/a> on Monday. They also want a full breakdown of what happened when they attend October\u2019s FIFA Council meeting \u2014 saying in a statement that they \u201chave not yet received any satisfactory response on this matter,\u201d months later.<\/p>\n Related Reading: USA crash out of World Cup at hands of Belgium despite controversial Balogun red card reversal<\/a><\/p>\n Canadian Concacaf boss Victor Montagliani, one of Infantino\u2019s VPs at FIFA, is considered by many as one of the top candidates to run against him, though the Vancouver native has not formally announced a campaign yet. No potential opponent has emerged yet, but UEFA is expected to put someone else forward as well.<\/p>\n Montagliani did request that Infantino not attend a recent Concacaf youth tournament<\/a>, which Infantino ignored. The Concacaf chief has been at the top administrative levels of the sport for quite a while now, and Concacaf\u2019s 35 voting member associations are a key region in any election.<\/p>\n