Africa football confederation chief Patrice Motsepe says Gianni Infantino’s future should only be decided by elections, after Ireland became the latest federation to withdraw its support for the embattled FIFA president.
Infantino is fighting to save his job after a barrage of criticism for his aborted plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.
The governing bodies of European football (UEFA), North and Central America (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC) stepped up the pressure on Infantino in a joint letter this week, declaring “trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority.”
It is believed they want Infantino to resign before he has the chance to seek re-election in March next year.
But Motsepe, a FIFA vice president and Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) president, is adamant that Infantino’s fate should be decided through the ballot box.
“If anybody has got any problem against anybody, whether it’s Gianni, whether it is anybody else, follow the process, follow the FIFA process, simple as that,” Motsepe told Sky News on Thursday.
“If you want to take him out, go for elections; let the 211 member associations decide. Do that and the vote will express whether they’ve got confidence in him or not.
“You’ve got to be very careful. There are elections taking place next year. Shouldn’t we allow that process to continue?”
Motsepe was in Salzburg at the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday to hold talks with UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, whose organisation are threatening to boycott the World Cup and Club World Cup in protest at Infantino’s scheme.
“I’ve heard so many stories about various issues and am careful to pass judgement on anything,” Motsepe said.
“Everybody has a right to be heard. Let’s have a hearing, and a proper forum.”
CAF had already backed Infantino, and Motsepe claimed there was no breach of rules over the World Cup sell-off talks because the proposals would be submitted to FIFA members for final approval.
“There’s a lot that’s problematic and negative that they have to fix,” Motsepe said.
“But he has apologised and said maybe there’s a different way these things should have been done, but we also take advice.”
However, there has been no end to the tidal wave of criticism engulfing Infantino.
On Thursday, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) became the latest FIFA member to withdraw its support for Infantino.
“Following an FAI Board Meeting, the decision was taken to rescind the letter of support that the Association supplied earlier this year,” the organisation said.
“It has since written to FIFA to explain its reasoning. The Association is grateful for the support that FIFA provides to Irish football, but recent events have raised significant concerns regarding governance, transparency and the lack of meaningful consultation.”
The English FA and Welsh FA had already withdrawn their backing for the 56-year-old Swiss.
Six Arab federations, including Qatar, Morocco and Egypt, offered their backing to Infantino on Thursday morning.