English FA to drop support for Infantino's re-election

The English Football Association (FA) plans to formally withdraw its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, dealing him a major blow just days after he dropped his bid to sell some of his equity to private investors.

The FA said it will write to FIFA to formally withdraw its support for Gianni's fourth term.

This comes just moments after the Welsh and Finnish Associations had dropped their support for Gianni's candidature.

The British Prime Minister Andy Burnham also said Sunday that FIFA President Gianni Infantino was not the right man to lead world soccer’s governing body in the latest fallout from the now abandoned plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

On Saturday, European soccer's governing body UEFA said it had lost confidence in FIFA’s leadership — possibly paving the way for a challenge to Infantino’s presidency. The governing body for North and Central American and Caribbean soccer (CONCACAF) said FIFA leadership had “stopped putting football first.”

Infantino was forced into a backdown over his controversial plans to sell World Cup profits through a commercial subsidiary that would run its top competitions.

Infantino’s plans fell apart after UEFA’s 55-member nations agreed Thursday to boycott the World Cup and all other FIFA competitions. CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation also said they opposed the plan.

Despite Infantino's climbdown, UEFA said it would work with other confederations to "devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again.”