TOKYO, Oct 23 — The head of the Asian Football Confederation today said the region supported Gianni Infantino’s bid for re-election as Fifa president following fierce criticism of his aborted World Cup selloff plan.
The 56-year-old Swiss was present at a Tokyo meeting of the AFC when president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa gave his unequivocal backing.
The AFC in August had joined Uefa (Europe) and Concacaf (North and Central America and the Caribbean) in condemning Infantino over his plan to open Fifa’s premium competitions such as the World Cup to private investors.
Infantino has faced calls to quit and has lost the support of many associations in his bid to be re-elected to a fourth and final term.
