PFAI expects to see FAI withdraw support for Infantino

The Professional Footballers Association of Ireland believes that the FAI will follow suit with the English and Welsh football associations by formally withdrawing their support for Gianni Infantino.

Infantino announced on Saturday that plans to sell stakes in a company which would run FIFA competitions to private investors had been scrapped, amid opposition from three continents and a boycott threat from UEFA.

UEFA welcomed Infantino's U-turn but issued a statement saying it had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership, with the English FA saying the statement had its "full support".

Prior to the furore over the proposal, the FA and the Football Association of Wales (FAW) had written letters of support for Infantino standing for election at next year’s FIFA Congress.

PFAI solicitor Stuart Gilhooly expects the FAI to add their voice to those calling for Infantino to leave.

"I would certainly expect them to agree with the English and the Welsh FA and I'd be very surprised if they took any different stance," he said while speaking on Radio 1’s Drivetime.

"UEFA were out very quickly as soon as Infantino came out with his ridiculous plan from last week and they were very strongly condemnatory of it. They subsequently have been very strong in what they've said and also in threatening legal action against against FIFA.

"So I think what is very likely is that the FAI will follow UEFA's lead. They've shown consistently that they are very beholden to UEFA in everything that they do. I'd be very surprised if they took a different position.

"I would think the [FAI] board will be discussing this matter. I would think they would not want to wait too much longer before coming out and supporting the English and Welsh FA. I would imagine there will be other European countries who will make similar withdrawals of support from Infantino.

"Infantino, up to now, or prior to last week's fiasco, had received confirmation of support for next April's elections from 200 of the 211 member nations and I think what you're going to see over the next while is a lot of people saying we're no longer going to support him in his re-election next year."

The English FA is understood to be writing to FIFA making it clear Infantino no longer has its support, while the FAW confirmed it had also turned against the Swiss.

A FAW statement said: "The recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement have led us to a position where Mr Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football.

"Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept."

UEFA’s statement on Saturday added that "no option should be off the table" in reviewing the future direction of FIFA, with the possibility remaining that national associations could trigger a vote of no confidence in Infantino which would lead to the calling of an Extraordinary FIFA Congress.

It would only require 43 associations to do that, but it is unlikely such a move would be made unless there was a strong belief, if not certainty, that a majority among FIFA’s 211 members existed to unseat Infantino at that Congress.

CONCACAF, which represents the associations of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, also called for a "full review" of Infantino’s leadership on Saturday, with the two confederations containing 96 associations combined.

Sources have indicated to the Press Association that CONCACAF’s president Victor Montagliani, a current FIFA vice-president, would be prepared to run for football’s top position.

A number of African and Asian FAs issued statements supporting Infantino over the weekend, including those from Morocco, Egypt and Qatar.

Meanwhile, UEFA has also written to Infantino confirming it is "actively considering" legal action in regard to the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan.

As first reported by the Telegraph, the letter, seen by the Press Association, orders Infantino and FIFA to "take immediate steps to identify, locate, and preserve all documents and electronically stored information described in this notice that are in your or FIFA’s possession, custody, or control".

Infantino proposed to sell a 20 per cent stake in FFE to private investors. FIFA confirmed last week that Thrive Eternal had been lined up to lead the investor group. Thrive was founded earlier this year by Joshua Kushner, the brother of United States President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.