The Football Association of Ireland has withdrawn its support for Gianni Infantino's re-election as FIFA president, rescinding its backing letter after a board meeting and writing to FIFA to explain its reasoning. The Irish Football Association has also confirmed it is backing Uefa's stance against Infantino.
The withdrawals follow mounting pressure after Infantino's attempt to sell a stake in FIFA's commercial operations to a private investment company was abandoned, a plan that emerged in late July. Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation — representing 136 of FIFA's 211 member associations — signed an open letter accusing Infantino of breaking trust through deception and placing himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority.
Six Arab associations, including Qatar, Morocco and Egypt, have declared their full support for Infantino. Meanwhile, FIFA's secretary general and management board members apologised for the handling of the shelved proposal and reaffirmed full support for Infantino. FIFA's presidential elections will be held next year.