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Sheikh Salman Endorses Gianni Infantino’s FIFA Re-Election at AFC Extraordinary Congress in Tokyo
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AFC endorsed Gianni Infantino for another term as FIFA president at Tokyo congress. AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa announced the endorsement to Infantino in Tokyo.
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One story. Different accounts.
The Guardian“This is an abrupt turnaround for Sheikh Salman.”
BBC“hopes of being re-elected Fifa president have been given a major boost by an endorsement from the head of the Asian Football Confederation.”
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AFC backs Infantino
Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa embraced Gianni Infantino with a large hug at the Asian Football Confederation's extraordinary congress in Tokyo, endorsing Infantino for another term as FIFA president. Sheikh Salman told the membership, "We affirm our full commitment to supporting you and your leadership as you seek a new mandate as the FIFA president," and he said he had spoken to members across Asia about their feelings.
Infantino took the podium after Sheikh Salman and said, "When you do many things, you do – hopefully, as we did, many good things – you do some mistakes as well," while also saying the important part was to learn, apologise, and move ahead. The AFC has 47 member associations, and the FIFA election is in March with a deadline for candidates to file against Infantino on 18 November, with none having filed so far.
U-turn after breach row
Sheikh Salman’s endorsement marked a turnaround from two months earlier when the AFC joined Uefa and Concacaf in saying Infantino had committed a "fundamental breach of trust". The BBC said the earlier joint letter accused Infantino of breaking trust "through deception" over the Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme, and it also cited a "profound failure of judgement".
Infantino apologised last week in Zurich to FIFA’s 37-member ruling council, which he chairs, for "mistakes" he made in assembling a now-scrapped $4.2bn plan to sell a stake in FIFA events. Sheikh Salman referenced the differences with Infantino in Tokyo but glossed over details, telling delegates, "But let’s not relate the two things together."
Money, votes, and deadlines
Infantino tied his campaign to FIFA’s funding model, saying, "Before I started as FIFA president, each of you" received $1m every four years and that "it will be $25m" as of the first of January of next year. The BBC said Infantino proposed to increase the amount of money handed out for football development across the world by $3.4bn (£2.6bn), and it said Uefa told FIFA it must release key documents and answer questions by 2 November.
The BBC also listed the vote weights for the March election, with Uefa having 55 votes, Africa 54, Asia 46, Concacaf 35, Oceania 11 and Conmebol 10. Sheikh Salman said, "As one Asian family, we are ready to move forward, united in your support, Gianni," as the AFC’s position threatened to bolster Infantino’s path to a fourth and final term.