Scottish FA Withdraws Support for Gianni Infantino
The Scottish FA has walked away from Gianni Infantino.
Chief executive Ian Maxwell has confirmed the governing body no longer has confidence in the Fifa president and will not back him when he stands for re-election in early 2027.
Sitting alongside newly appointed Scotland head coach Sebastian Pocognoli, Maxwell did not soften the message.
“The position of the SFA has been clear since the 55 Uefa associations met,” he told BBC Sport. “We have aligned ourselves with the Uefa position and 55 nations are stronger than one voice. Their statement since then has talked about a lack of confidence in the Fifa leadership and the Scottish FA agree completely with that decision. The SFA will not be voting for Gianni Infantino come the re-election in early 2027.”
Infantino under fire over FFE plan
Infantino is already facing mounting pressure over his controversial push to create Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), a new company designed to run the commercial and ticketing rights for all Fifa competitions, including the World Cups.
Under the proposal, 21% of FFE would have been sold to a private investment firm.
The idea detonated across the game. Uefa led a fierce backlash, warning of a boycott of all Fifa competitions, and the plan was eventually scrapped. The damage, though, has not gone away.
Last week, Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation issued an open letter accusing Fifa and Infantino of breaking trust “through deception”. The document, signed by the presidents and general secretaries of all three confederations, framed the row over FFE as a question of “the integrity of the game, and the integrity of those elected to lead it”.
Infantino was not named directly, but the target was obvious. Sources have told BBC Sport the letter should be viewed as a chance for him to step aside and leave with some dignity intact.
Scotland falls in line with Uefa bloc
Maxwell made clear Scotland is now fully embedded in the Uefa-led opposition.
He also pushed back at any suggestion the SFA had stayed quiet because its president, Mike Mulraney, chairs the powerful Fifa finance committee. That role, he insisted, has not muted their stance.
The Scottish FA joins the Football Associations of England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, who have already withdrawn their support for Infantino ahead of a planned fourth term. The election is scheduled for March, with a deadline of 18 November for any rival candidate to come forward.
So far, none has.
Governance row deepens
Fifa has promised to present a report on the aborted FFE project to the next Fifa council meeting, expected in October. For Uefa, Concacaf and the AFC, that is nowhere near enough.
In their letter, the three confederations argued that proper governance “in the face of such a profound lack of judgement” demands a fully independent third-party review, not an internal report overseen by the same leadership that pushed the plan.
They also highlighted Uefa’s legal warning that Fifa must not delete or destroy any documents linked to the shelved project, underlining just how far trust has eroded.
Talk of breakaways in the background
Behind the formal statements, the stakes are rising.
BBC Sport understands there have been preliminary discussions between Uefa, Concacaf and the AFC over possible breakaway competitions if Infantino remains in charge. Those conversations are described as exploratory rather than advanced, but the fact they are happening at all signals a dramatic shift in the balance of power.
For now, it remains a threat rather than a blueprint. Substantive talks have not begun, according to other sources.
What is clear is that Infantino’s authority has rarely looked more fragile. With the Scottish FA now openly against him and Europe’s major FAs lining up in opposition, the countdown to March is no longer just about an election. It is about whether world football’s leadership can hold together at all.
