ÖFB questions Infantino's candidacy – pressure on FIFA president grows

The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) announced after a meeting of its supervisory board that it does not support the renewed candidacy of FIFA President Gianni Infantino as head of the world football governing body, making another European association turn against the heavily pressured president.

ÖFB criticises unanswered allegations

In an official statement, the ÖFB emphasized that the allegations raised against Infantino have so far neither been credibly clarified nor refuted. The wording “The allegations have so far neither been credibly clarified nor refuted” underscores the association’s dissatisfaction with the current handling.

The move follows similar positions taken by football associations from France, Italy and the Netherlands, which have already publicly withdrawn their support for Infantino. With this, Austria joins a growing list of European associations that are turning their backs on the president.

Infantino is in the biggest crisis of his more than ten-year tenure. The trigger was his publicly announced, later withdrawn plan to sell the World Cup rights for a billion-dollar sum to private investors linked to US President Donald Trump. This initiative has shaken the confidence of many associations.

The 56-year-old Swiss intends to stand again for election as FIFA President next year, but the European football union UEFA wants to prevent another electoral victory. The ÖFB states that it stands “fully and firmly behind the common line of UEFA”.

With the clear rejection of the candidacy, the Austrian Football Association signals that support for Infantino in Europe continues to wane and the debate about the future of the world football governing body intensifies.