Nordic Associations Withdraw Support for Infantino Amid Calls for FIFA Governance Reform

Gianni Infantino (President of Fédération Internationale de Football Association)

Six Nordic football associations—representing Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands—have formally withdrawn their confidence in FIFA President Gianni Infantino, demanding sweeping governance overhauls and supporting calls for his resignation.

Following a summit in Helsinki, the leadership group endorsed calls from three major confederations for Infantino’s resignation and urged an independent inquiry into his controversial proposal to sell equity stakes in FIFA competitions to private investors.

“The six Nordic football associations have lost confidence in FIFA’s president and are concerned about the organisation’s governance and decision-making at the highest level,” they said in a statement.

“The Nordic football associations stand united with UEFA and support the measures that the organisation and its national member associations have jointly proposed.

“We expect FIFA to provide binding guarantees that the organisation’s governance or competitions will never again be opened up to private ownership.”

Building on the regional backlash, the Danish Football Association pledged on Friday to back a credible alternative candidate to Infantino in the upcoming March presidential election. Infantino faces unprecedented opposition from three major continental governing bodies—UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and CONCACAF—representing the sport's traditional powerhouses in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. 

Senior leaders across these regions have also held preliminary discussions regarding a potential vote of no confidence to formally challenge the FIFA chief's standing.

“We also support the demand made by AFC, CONCACAF and UEFA that a fully independent external investigation into the events surrounding the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal be established,” the Nordic associations added.

“We also call on FIFA to initiate a comprehensive and independent review of its governance framework to determine whether it ensures the independence, checks and balances, transparency and accountability that were intended when FIFA adopted its reform programme in 2016.”

Seeking a final term that would extend his presidency to 2031, Infantino traveled to the Dominican Republic to engage with Caribbean Football Union (CFU) officials. The visit proceeded despite an explicit request from CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani urging Infantino to skip a regional youth tournament to prevent ongoing governance controversies from overshadowing the competition.

“This meeting of the presidents of CFU takes place in the environment of [an] under-14 youth tournament in the region, which actually is one of those tournaments that can take place thanks to the FIFA Forward programme,” Infantino said.

“So even more so a reason to be proud to be here and happy as well because it’s important to engage, to have a dialogue, to express views and opinions.” 

© Reuters