The French Football Federation is withdrawing its support for Gianni Infantino’s reelection bid as head of Fifa next year, FFF president Philippe Diallo said on Thursday.
Infantino, who is seeking another term as Fifa president, has faced criticism since his failed proposal to sell a 20% stake in Fifa competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors was abandoned in July following widespread opposition from football’s regional confederations.
Several European federations, including the Football Association of Ireland, the English FA and Italy’s federation, have withdrawn their backing for Infantino since the collapse of his proposed World Cup stake sale.
Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation and North America’s Concacaf have called for change at the top of FIFA and are seeking a credible alternative ahead of the March election.
Infantino still has the support of South America’s Conmebol and Africa’s CAF.
The Fifa presidential election will take place in Rabat on March 18, 2027.
Meanwhile, the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation has claimed that the 2030 World Cup final will be held in a city 60km from Casablanca.
Fifa has yet to announce the venue of the final, with Spain and Morocco in a heated battle to host soccer’s biggest showpiece match.
“The province of Benslimane will have the honour of hosting the 2030 World Cup final,” Fouzi Lekjaa told a political party event in Bouznika, Morocco on Thursday, EFE reported.
Benslimane is a city 60km from Casablanca and the site of the $12-billion Hassan II stadium, which is being built for the World Cup with a projected capacity of 115,000.It will be the largest football-specific stadium in the world.
The next World Cup will be a unique event, with games to be held across six countries in three continents for the first time. While the opening three games will take place in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, the majority of the tournament is being hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
Fifa has yet to finalise all of the cities that will host games, but both Morocco and Spain want the final.
“Spain should host the final,” Lekjaa’s counterpart at the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Rafael Louzan, told local media earlier this month.
Fifa said in August that media reports saying president Gianni Infantino had promised the final to Morocco was “false and misleading”.