FIFA President Gianni Infantino's path to re-election just got a whole lot clearer. On Thursday, at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, the head of world football officially announced his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election—and immediately secured game-changing backing from two of the sport's largest regional powerhouses.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) both threw their weight behind Infantino, giving his campaign a massive early boost. CAF announced it had "unanimously agreed" to support the incumbent, while AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa released a statement affirming the confederation's continued backing. "FIFA is in its best position ever," Sheikh Salman said, "and we offer our continued and full support to [Infantino] as a candidate for FIFA President for the term 2027-2031, just as the AFC and Asian football has always supported him since his election in 2016."
The math is simple: Africa and Asia together control 101 of FIFA's 211 member votes. Add that to the 10 votes already pledged by South America's CONMEBOL, and Infantino is already in a commanding position before the race even heats up.
Infantino first took the FIFA reins in 2016, stepping into the chaos left by Sepp Blatter's corruption-fueled downfall. Despite FIFA's usual three-term limit, the organization ruled that his partial first term (2016-2019) doesn't count toward the total, clearing the way for another run.
But his tenure hasn't been without controversy. Critics have pointed to his close ties with US President Donald Trump, who received the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize during last year's World Cup draw—a decision that prompted a formal ethics complaint from advocacy group FairSquare. The group alleged the award violated FIFA's rules on political neutrality.
Infantino has also stirred debate with bold structural changes, including expanding the World Cup to 48 teams and launching the revamped 32-team FIFA Club World Cup last year. Whether you see him as a visionary or a polarizing figure, one thing is clear: his re-election campaign is already on solid ground.