FA and FAW turn their backs on Infantino — and world football may never be the same
FA and FAW announce they will not back Infantino's re-election at FIFA. Understand the governance crisis shaking world football on the eve of the 2026 World Cup.
The crisis at the top of world football has entered a new chapter — and this time the trigger was pulled by two of the most storied federations on the planet.
England and Wales have announced they will not support Gianni Infantino's re-election at FIFA. The FA moved first, releasing a statement on Saturday calling for "a full and robust review of FIFA's leadership and governance to ensure that world football is run with transparency." It then formally withdrew its backing for the Italo-Swiss official.
The FAW was even more blunt. The Welsh federation accused Infantino of "not putting the interests of football first" — and labelled that failure unacceptable. The statement left no room for interpretation: "recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communication and common sense have led us to a position where Mr Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW," it reads.
The timing is no coincidence. The split comes just days after FIFA abandoned its plan to create a subsidiary — FIFA Forward Enterprise — that would have sold between 20% and 30% of its commercial rights, including those of the World Cup, to private investors. The proposal had been presented as a revenue-distribution scheme for the 211 member federations, but it did not survive the internal pressure.
Meanwhile, the England national team arrives at the 2026 World Cup as one of the favourites: Golmetria's model gives England a 6.76% chance of winning the title — and a 93.41% probability of reaching the quarter-finals. In the market, the implied odds put the English at around 10.98% to lift the trophy.
But the question now goes well beyond the pitch: with their federation on a collision course with FIFA, what will be the political price of this fight for England, both inside and outside the World Cup?