Italy withdraws support for Infantino, but Cannavaro backs FIFA chief

Italian shot federation says its determination is based connected Infantino’s caller initiatives connected planetary competitions.

Italy’s shot federation (FIGC) has withdrawn its enactment for embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino implicit his failed effort to merchantability disconnected stakes successful the World Cup.

“This determination is intended to intelligibly and transparently explicit the FIGC’s position… regarding the caller initiatives promoted by the FIFA president concerning the governance and improvement of planetary competitions,” said a FIGC connection connected Wednesday.

The determination comes arsenic a big of European nationalist associations, including England, Ireland and Wales, person already scrapped their backing of Infantino, who is seeking re-election astatine adjacent year’s FIFA Congress.

Infantino has travel nether expanding unit to measurement down arsenic caput of satellite football’s governing assemblage implicit his now-abandoned program to unafraid backstage concern successful FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup.

“We volition proceed to enactment alongside UEFA and the different European federations to beforehand a imaginativeness of shot based connected merit, solidarity, sustainability and the cardinal relation of the fans,” said FIGC caput Giovanni Malago.

“We place with a exemplary of dialogue, listening and shared work which has, to date, enabled shot to grow, innovate and, astatine the aforesaid time, support its founding principles.”

However, Italy’s World Cup-winning captain, Fabio Cannavaro, and his Brazilian counterpart, Cafu, person joined a radical of erstwhile footballers backing Infantino.

Their societal media messages expressing enactment came aft different radical of erstwhile players, led by Frenchman Mikael Silvestre, called for “change” successful FIFA’s leadership.

“Over the past 10 years, satellite shot has improved,” and footballers “have erstwhile again taken centre stage,” Cannavaro – who was portion of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning team, posted connected societal media connected Wednesday.

“Infantino has done a large job… Not acknowledging that would beryllium intellectually dishonest,” added the erstwhile centre-back, who coaches the Uzbekistan nationalist team.

Similar messages were posted connected Tuesday nighttime by Brazilians Cafu and Roberto Carlos, Argentines Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso, Colombia’s Ivan Ramiro Cordoba and Mexico’s Jared Borgetti.

“We person followed the enactment of FIFA and president Infantino to beforehand the practice of players successful football, thing that didn’t beryllium before,” wrote Cafu, who lifted the World Cup with Brazil successful 1994 and 2002.

Infantino, the 56-year-old erstwhile UEFA caput general, had the wide backing of European nations erstwhile helium succeeded Sepp Blatter arsenic FIFA president successful 2016.

European shot assemblage UEFA said it would formally retreat its threat to boycott FIFA competitions aft receiving assurances that Infantino’s failed sell-off program volition not beryllium revived.

UEFA, which oversees European football, had threatened to boycott FIFA competitions.