A new political crisis is unfolding in the world of football. The New Zealand Football Federation has officially withdrawn its support for the current FIFA President, Gianni Infantino. This decision, made against the backdrop of a major scandal surrounding the commercial rights to the World Cup, has dealt another blow to the Swiss official's authority on the eve of his re-election for a fourth term.

Scandal over rights sale and federations' reaction

The cause of the open conflict was Infantino's proposal to carve out the commercial rights to the World Cup and sell a 20% stake to the private firm Thrive Capital, linked to the Donald Trump family, for $4.2 billion. Member associations were promised payouts of up to $40 million. However, following a wave of outrage, FIFA was forced to cancel this plan and apologize to 211 national federations. Despite this, the apologies proved insufficient to restore trust.

Demand for independent investigation

Andrew Pragnell, Executive Director of the New Zealand Football Federation, declared a total loss of trust in FIFA's leadership. In his statement, he emphasized: "We have called for an independent investigation, as we do not want to see another quick internal 'sweeping under the rug' of this matter. An independent audit is what other confederations are calling for, and it will help restore some of the lost trust." The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) took a more restrained position, thanking FIFA for the development of regional football but supporting the idea of an audit of the organization's actions.

Balance of power ahead of the FIFA Congress

The question of Infantino's re-election at next year's FIFA Congress is now in serious doubt. Currently, three key confederations are opposing the Swiss official — the European (UEFA), Asian (AFC), and North American (CONCACAF) confederations, collectively controlling 136 out of 211 votes. Despite this, Infantino still has a powerful pool of supporters in Africa, South America, and Arab countries. Support for the FIFA President has also surged in the US. Andrew Giuliani, Executive Director of the White House Working Group on the 2026 World Cup, labeled Infantino's critics as "envious".

Contradictory data

There are discrepancies in the assessment of the situation. On one hand, the New Zealand Football Federation and several other confederations are insisting on the urgent definition of the scope of an independent audit, which should shed light on decision-making and control within FIFA. On the other hand, Infantino's camp, including US representatives, considers the criticism unfounded and links it to the personal ambitions of opponents. We previously reported that Norway openly called for Infantino's resignation, which also points to a rift within world football.