Scottish FA Withdraws Support for Gianni Infantino's Re-election
The Scottish FA has walked away from Gianni Infantino.
Chief executive Ian Maxwell has confirmed the governing body will not back the Fifa president when he stands for re-election in early 2027, saying the SFA has lost confidence in his leadership.
The rupture centres on the controversial Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) project, Infantino’s aborted plan to create a new company to control the commercial and ticketing rights for all Fifa competitions – including the World Cups – and sell 21% of it to a private investment firm.
That proposal detonated a backlash. Uefa led the resistance, warning of a boycott of Fifa competitions, and the idea was eventually scrapped. The political damage, though, has not been cleared away.
Scotland nails colours to Uefa mast
“The position of the SFA has been clear since the 55 Uefa associations met,” Maxwell told BBC Sport, speaking as he unveiled Belgian Sebastian Pocognoli as Scotland’s new head coach.
“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.”
Maxwell dismissed any suggestion that Hampden had gone quiet on Infantino because SFA president Mike Mulraney chairs Fifa’s finance committee. He insisted Scotland’s stance has been consistent with Uefa’s increasingly hard line.
They are not alone. The Football Associations of England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have already withdrawn their support for Infantino, who intends to run for a fourth term in March.
Trust “broken through deception”
The mood hardened further last week.
Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation issued an extraordinary open letter accusing Fifa and Infantino of breaking trust “through deception”. The FFE saga, they argued, was not simply a commercial misstep but a question of “the integrity of the game, and the integrity of those elected to lead it”.
The letter did not name Infantino. It did not need to. Sources have told BBC Sport the message should be read as an invitation for him to step aside and leave his role with some dignity intact.
Fifa has promised to present a report on FFE to the next council meeting, expected in October. For the three confederations, that is nowhere near enough. They say any serious review, given what they describe as a “profound lack of judgement”, must be carried out by a fully independent third party, not by Fifa itself.
They have also underlined Uefa’s legal warning that Fifa must not delete or destroy any documents linked to the abandoned scheme.
Breakaway talk on the table
The crisis has already moved beyond angry statements.
BBC Sport understands preliminary conversations have taken place between Uefa, Concacaf and the AFC about potential breakaway competitions if Infantino remains in power. Those discussions are described as exploratory, not yet detailed or advanced, but the fact they are happening at all shows how far relations have deteriorated.
For now, Infantino stands unopposed. No rival candidate has formally declared ahead of the 18 November deadline.
He still controls the machinery of Fifa. He still has deep support in several regions.
But with the Scottish FA now openly joining a growing European-led revolt, the next few months will reveal whether that power base is solid – or already beginning to crack.
