Football Australia backs AFC call for “clear and credible action” but does not demand Infantino’s resignation
Football Australia on Tuesday issued a three-paragraph statement that backed the Asian Football Confederation’s position calling for “clear and credible action” in response to the crisis at Fifa, but stopped short of calling for president Gianni Infantino’s resignation.
The Football Australia statement, released hours after the AFC’s more strident criticism of Fifa, said: “Football Australia supports the position expressed by our confederation, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), that the events of recent weeks must now be met with clear and credible action that continues to strengthen governance, transparency and accountability within Fifa,” a spokesperson said. The statement added: “Our focus remains on ensuring there is a transparent and appropriately independent process to understand what occurred, how and why it occurred, identify where governance, communication and decision-making processes fell short, and ensure the necessary lessons are learned and appropriate measures are taken to strengthen those systems and reduce the risk of such circumstances arising again.”
Football Australia’s decision to speak up came within a day of a letter co-signed by AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa that demanded from Fifa “leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it”. The letter was co-signed by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani and was described in the statement as an escalation in the backlash against Infantino’s leadership since he proposed the Fifa Forward Enterprise late last month.
The Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal, which the article says would have privatised part of the World Cup, was withdrawn by Infantino after an immediate backlash, but that reversal has not ended the criticism of Fifa’s leadership. Despite the recent escalation, Infantino retained support from African and South American nations and from US president Donald Trump, who posted on Truth Social on Tuesday that it would be a “terrible mistake” if Infantino was ousted as president.
The article notes the loss of support from within the AFC — which it states has 46 Fifa-affiliated members — threatens to bring to an end Infantino’s decade-long tenure at the summit of world football, as the piece describes a growing bloc stretching from North America across Europe to Asia mobilising for change even before next year’s Fifa presidential election. It also reports that confederations appear split: Qatar, the UAE, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bhutan and Sri Lanka had publicly backed Infantino prior to Sheikh Salman’s latest intervention.
The statement clarified Australia’s position without positioning Football Australia as a leading voice in the campaign against Infantino. The article says Australia’s financially-stricken governing body would have benefited from the additional investment Infantino had promised under the Fifa Forward Enterprise and that the Socceroos were part of the Fifa Series this year, a new invitational concept developed under Infantino; it adds that Australia’s initial reluctance to join early European criticism drew concern from some in the Australian football community and that those people may still be frustrated by Football Australia’s approach.
“Football Australia will continue to engage actively and constructively with and through our confederation, the AFC, and alongside our fellow member associations as this process progresses.”