Serbia Withdraws Support for Infantino's New FIFA Term
The Football Association of Serbia has withdrawn its support for Infantino's 2027 to 2031 term, seventy days after giving it in writing. Wales withdrew first, and England has announced it will follow.
The letter went out on May 25. Support for Gianni Infantino’s new term at the helm of FIFA carried the signature of the Football Association of Serbia, submitted in writing, the way football administration requires. Seventy days later, on Monday at around 1:50 p.m., a statement arrived from the federation’s headquarters on Terazije 35 that erased that signature. The Football Association of Serbia withdrew its support for Infantino’s presidential term from 2027 to 2031.
Serbia is not the first to do this. The Football Association of Wales moved first, the English federation has announced the same step, and the list keeps growing.
“The Football Association of Serbia has withdrawn its support for Gianni Infantino for a new term as FIFA president. We recall that we gave Mr. Infantino our support on May 25 of this year in writing, but after carefully considering the events that have, over the recent period, seriously damaged the reputation of both FIFA and its president, this is the only logical and rational step,” the Football Association of Serbia said in a statement.
The wording about events that damaged the federation’s reputation names no specific incident. A statement of this kind does not need to, since everyone knows what it refers to.
The 20 Billion Dollar Plan That Unraveled the Signatures
Infantino offered FIFA’s member associations a one time payment of 20 million dollars each, with a deadline of mid September to accept. The money was to come from an investment firm owned by the brother of Jared Kushner, son in law of US President Donald Trump. In exchange, a new company would be formed under FIFA’s umbrella, valued at 20 billion dollars, with 20 percent of the ownership going to private investors. That company would have run the federation’s competitions, from the men’s and women’s World Cups to the Club World Cup.
We have already reported on how 55 European federations shot down the proposal with the threat of a boycott, and on how Infantino subsequently withdrew it. Pulling the proposal did not bring the signatures back. On the contrary, the first written withdrawal of support came only after that.
How Many Votes Does Infantino Have Left?
FIFA has 211 member associations, and each carries one vote at congress. The breakdown by confederation looks like this:
- Europe, 55 associations
- Africa, 54
- Asia, 46
- CONCACAF, 35
- Oceania, 11
- South America, 10
In the dispute over the equity sale, both the North American and Asian confederations have sided with UEFA. That puts 136 of the 211 votes on one side of the table. Because of that arithmetic, individual withdrawals of support, like Serbia’s, carry more weight than a single vote: Wales has one vote, Serbia has one vote, but a signature withdrawn after seventy days signals how the remaining ones are being counted too.
In its statement, the Football Association of Serbia also said that “the future of world football must be based on transparency, dialogue, mutual respect and a partnership between all confederations and national associations.”
“We believe that no decision of strategic importance for the future of football should be made without broad consensus and open consultation with all relevant stakeholders,” the FSS said.
Rabat in March, Paperwork Due by November 18
The regular FIFA presidential election is scheduled for March in Rabat, Morocco, and the deadline for filing candidacies runs out on November 18. That leaves a little more than three and a half months, a period in which what counts are letters, not statements to the media.
From Terazije, the message is that the relationship with football’s governing bodies remains unchanged:
“The Football Association of Serbia remains committed to cooperation with FIFA, UEFA and all national associations toward the development and improvement of football, but believes that at this moment new trust, a new approach and leadership are needed, one that will help restore dialogue, unity and credibility to international football institutions,” the statement reads.
Infantino has held FIFA for a decade without a serious challenger, and that was his strongest card, stronger than any project he ever proposed. Withdrawn signatures remain symbolic until someone from Europe puts their own name on paper. The first date that truly matters in this story is therefore not March in Rabat, but November 18.
