The Scottish Football Association has officially withdrawn its support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, citing the “lack of transparency” shown over the plan to sell stakes in a World Cup company to private investors.
A number of European FAs — including those in England, the Republic of Ireland and Wales — had already withdrawn letters stating their intention to back Infantino for reelection at next year’s FIFA Congress, and now the SFA has officially joined that group.
The governing body’s chief executive Ian Maxwell said on Monday: “The Scottish FA will not be voting for Gianni Infantino. That’s in line with the UEFA position and we’ve maintained that stance throughout.
“When you’re an administrator in football, you shouldn’t be anywhere near the camera anywhere near as often as has been the case.
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“Something has gone wrong if the focus after the most successful, the most well-supported World Cup, that every Scotland fan who was there will be talking about for the rest of their lives, has now become off-the-field incidents rather than on the field.
“That can’t be where football should be. It’s got to be focused on the game itself and on the relationship with the fans.
“There’s obviously been a fall-down in governance, there’s been a lack of transparency, there’s been a lack of engagement with member associations, and that’s something that we need to address.
“The transparency and the governance needs to change. What form that takes, what that looks like, is up for a bit of debate.
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“Every member association of FIFA should have a say, the same as every member in Scotland should have a say in the running of the game in this country.
“The game is for everybody, it’s not for individuals to make decisions and we need to be part of that process.”
The SFA’s president, Mike Mulraney, is the current chair of FIFA’s finance committee.
Infantino remains under extreme pressure, with three confederation presidents accusing him of “deception” over his private investor plan in an open letter published last week.
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The Press Association understands the intent of the letter’s authors was to give Infantino the opportunity to resign and leave his position with dignity.
One option for Infantino’s opponents, if he refuses to resign, could be to find a candidate willing to stand against him in next year’s Congress. However, advocacy group FairSquare is calling for a different approach, and has written to FIFA questioning Infantino’s right to even stand for reelection.
On the eve of the 2022 World Cup final a FIFA news release said its governing council agreed with its governance, audit and compliance committee (GACC) that Infantino’s reign between 2016 and 2019 — when he succeeded Sepp Blatter at an Extraordinary Congress — did not count toward the maximum three-term limit set out in Article 33.2 of the FIFA Statutes.
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FairSquare was supported in its letter by Miguel Maduro, the former chair of FIFA’s governance committee, who told the Press Association on Monday: “2027 would be his election for a fourth term of office, and it seems to me that the wording of the provision runs clearly against that.
“The objective was clearly to limit [one person serving as president] to a maximum of 12 years, and to avoid presidents staying in office as long as Blatter or [Joao] Havelange.”
FairSquare’s letter, first reported by The Athletic, points out the GACC advice to FIFA Council which was said to have prompted the 2022 announcement on Infantino’s status has never been published.
FairSquare’s letter has been sent to FIFA’s review committee, which is a sub-committee of the GACC and is empowered to make decisions on the eligibility of presidential candidates.
Maduro said: “I’m still hopeful that at least some members of the review committee will not accept to be part of what I think will be a charade if they consider him eligible, and in addition to that I hope that the football associations that oppose him make this [alleged ineligibility] the central point.”
An account which appears to belong to the current deputy chair of the GACC, professor Chris Mihm, has previously reposted FairSquare posts on the social media site Bluesky in which it has called for a ‘reboot’ of FIFA and criticised Infantino over alleged breaches of FIFA rules on political neutrality in relation to his dealings with United States President Donald Trump.
FIFA has been approached for comment regarding the FairSquare letter.
