October 23 – The Asian Football Confederation’s president Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa has pledged Asia’s support to embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino in his bid for re-election for a fourth term.
The AFC had initially called for the removal of Infantino after his failure to explain his actions over the attempt to sell off all FIFA’s commercial rights in the FFE scandal. Infantino apologised for the mistake last week at the FIFA Council and has promised to respond to all questions regarding both the FFE scheme and growing discontent over his leadership of FIFA.
That apology appears to be enough to reverse their position and endorse Infantino. It happened after the intervention of Qatar who publicly criticised Salman, saying that he didn’t speak for them. Saudi Arabia later issued a short and terse statement of support for Infantino, having previously appeared to be ambivalent to his continued FIFA leadership.
While the bedrock of Infantino’s powerbase has traditionally been his control of Africa, his prolonged courtship of the leaderships of the two Gulf countries has given him political support well beyond that of the local FAs.
In his welcome address to the AFC Extraordinary Congress in Tokyo, Japan, Salman said: “Since we gathered for our Congress in Vancouver (May 2026), a lot has happened in the world of football. But we must firmly anchor our future in the steadfast beliefs of transparency, unity and inclusivity.”
Talking about a “deep reflection” of what really happened in recent weeks, Salman said the “football relies on trust and respect”, calling it “our shield” in difficult times, perhaps the “darkest hour in the history of football”.
“Our greatest strength lies in our unity, and we have all seen the historic heights Asian football can achieve when we stand together. The Asian game’s remarkable journey and historic achievements are deeply rooted in the strong partnership, trust, and shared vision that we share as one united family,” said Salman.
“As we look toward a brighter and more competitive future, our solidarity remains our greatest strength. We are ready to move forward, united in support of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.”
Salman referenced previous time when they all had more hair as he struck a friendly and personally tone with Infantino who later responded with hair jokes of his own – they are growing theme in conference addresses.
“Gianni I want to make it clear, Yes, we had some issues we spoke about in the past. But let’s not relate the two things together. I think the last few days we met in Zurich you made it clear that there’s a true understanding between us.”
He added: “The past I’m sure is part of our history. We’ve all, I’m sure, learned important lessons from it. What matters now is how we move forward together. I think everyone has questions and I’m sure the answers we be available, whether to us in Asia, or the rest of the world.”
Stage set for Infantino
After Salman had spoken, Infantino took the podium and for 15 minutes and ran through his key election messages in his typically circular style, and without addressing the controversy swirling around him.
Telling the AFC’s national association chiefs that this was a “special moment”, he praised Salman’s 13-year leadership of the AFC before hitting his stride with the on-brand messaging that “football unites the world”.
“Football is emotion for everyone in the world. Our shared and joint responsibility is to create opportunities for your boys and girls.”
He reiterated his frequently heard mantra that football has become truly global (the world’s game wasn’t global before?), adapting it for his local audience saying that “it would not have been possible without a strong and committed Asia.”
The expanded World Cup (48 teams) provided “more opportunities and more chances” with a record 9-team entry from Asia. He similarly mentioned the U15 festival that is about to kick off in Azerbaijan saying “now every boy in every country in the world has the possibility to dream, to come together”. The girls will have to wait, they are used to that.
No Infantino address would be complete without a strong reference to the money he has generated for football. “When I started as FIFA president you were receiving $1 million. From January 1 that will be $25 million – for you to invest in the future of our game.”
He didn’t mention that it was only $25 million due to the intervention of the Confederation presidents who forced FIFA to open their reserves to give more money to their members. That was not an Infantino initiative as he had already budgeted and had had approved, $10 million for each association for the next cycle.
“Hopefully there are many good things to come,” said Infantino. “There have been some mistakes. It is important to learn from them and we have apologised. Now it is important to unite and come together and to progress.”
“We can confidentially look at the future. We always try to look forward. We can always count on Asia and you can always count on FIFA.”
It was a reassuring message for the Asians who politely made sure Infantino didn’t have a bad hair day.
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