Infantino strengthens his mandate with Asian backing that isolates UEFA
At the FIFA Congress held in Tokyo, President Gianni Infantino presented a strategy that, with the unanimous backing of the Asian Confederation, aims to secure his re‑election in the March vote, leaving UEFA without key support.
Asian support and UEFA isolation
The official announcement came from the president of the Asian Confederation, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, and shattered the opposition front that had been building over the summer. During that period, UEFA, CONCACAF and Asia itself signed a joint letter denouncing a “fundamental breach of trust” by Infantino. The complaint arose after the revelation of his already‑filed plan to privatise twenty percent of the World Cup commercial rights for four billion two hundred million dollars.
The Swiss diplomat’s tour of Asian soil, with key stops in Tokyo, was enough to neutralise the revolt. Sheikh Salman called for “moving forward together as one big family” and his support left UEFA isolated, dismantling any alternative European candidacy before November 18, the regulatory deadline.
Infantino already has fifty‑four votes guaranteed from the African Confederation and forty‑seven from the federations that make up the Asian bloc, bringing him close to an absolute majority of the two hundred eleven votes of the General Assembly. He is short of only a couple of minor alliances to surpass the required threshold of one hundred six votes. The “one country, one vote” principle gives the same weight to powers such as Germany, Spain or England as to federations as small as Guam or Bhutan.
Finance and football expansion
On the financial front, Infantino recalled that the FIFA Forward programme has raised its grants from one million dollars per federation every four years to more than twenty‑five million. Moreover, the expansion of the World Cup to forty‑eight teams in 2026 doubled the direct slots allocated to the Asian continent, rising from four point five to eight point five places.
To sustain this massive financing scheme, FIFA is looking to occupy more screen space and maximise its television and sponsorship revenues. The solution has been the hypertrophy of the Zurich calendar: the creation of a new Club World Cup with thirty‑two teams, the reinstatement of the Intercontinental Cup and the increase of matches in the final stages of national team tournaments.
The heads of the continental leagues and the major European clubs express deep concern because the global body competes directly with the Champions League and domestic tournaments for the same sponsors and advertising budgets. UEFA, with its technical level, top‑tier stadiums and extensive sponsorship ecosystem, is now constrained by FIFA’s ballot boxes.
Infantino’s defensive pivot not only secures his stay in office until 2031, but also permanently reshapes the geography of institutional power. AFC’s backing paves the way for a possible award of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, consolidating an alliance between Asia, Africa and Gulf sovereign wealth funds that neutralises the traditional European football veto power.