The heads of six Arab national football associations expressed support Thursday for FIFA President Gianni Infantino as he faces mounting pressure to resign over an abandoned plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights to FIFA competitions, Anadolu reports.
The joint statement backing Infantino was signed by the presidents of the football federations of Qatar, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Egypt and Mauritania. Four of the signatories are also members of the FIFA Council.
“We express our full support for Mr. Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, and reaffirm our confidence in his leadership and continued commitment to the development of football worldwide,” they said.
The declaration follows calls from European governing body UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) for Infantino to resign.
The three confederations, representing 136 of FIFA’s 211 member associations, accused Infantino of a breach of trust over his attempt to attract private investment into FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
