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The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has declared its support for Gianni Infantino following demands from Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation for the Fifa president to resign, in a development that further highlights world football’s civil war.
After a meeting of its executive committee in Fiji on Wednesday, the OFC issued a statement on Friday praising “the progress achieved over the last decade” by Fifa in its first public comments since the abandoned World Cup sell-off plan emerged this month.
In another sign of division, however, the OFC’s biggest member and only nation to qualify for this summer’s World Cup, New Zealand, broke ranks with the confederation by withdrawing backing for Infantino and calling for an independent review of the Fifa Forward Enterprise plan, which has been demanded by the three rebel groups.
The OFC is the smallest confederation in world football with just 11 full members, but with Infantino facing a leadership challenge for the first time in a decade at next year’s presidential election those votes could prove crucial.
Uefa, Concacaf – the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation – and the AFC provide 143 of Fifa’s 211 members, but powerful countries within those blocks, most notably Mexico and Qatar, have already made it clear that they still support Infantino, while others may also defy the orders of their confederation.
The OFC is the last confederation to declare its position and its stance completes the symbolic division of world football, with the Confederation of African Football and South America’s Conmebol also backing Infantino.
In addition the OFC’s stance illustrates the continued backing for Infantino among smaller nations such as American Samoa and the Cook Islands, which is likely to emerge as a theme of the presidential election.
“The OFC executive committee welcomes Fifa’s decision to withdraw the FFE (Fifa Forward Enterprise) proposal and its commitment to review the issues surrounding the project,” the OFC said in a statement.
“OFC recognises the progress achieved over the last decade in advancing football development in Oceania under Fifa’s leadership and encourages Fifa to use the review as an opportunity to identify and implement any changes that may be necessary.”
The OFC has repeatedly declined to answer questions from the Guardian on its position over the last fortnight, and delayed releasing a statement until two days after its exco meeting.
New Zealand Football’s decision to break ranks goes some way towards explaining its reticence to commit in a move that has added significance given the federation has benefited from Infantino’s leadership of Fifa, as cohosts of the 2023 Women’s World Cup with Australia.
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“After careful consideration, New Zealand Football has formed the view that decisions and actions within Fifa have contributed to a breakdown in trust and increased division within international football, and that an independent review is required to restore confidence and trust,” NZF said in a statement.
“NZF believes this point in time represents an opportunity for all Fifa member associations to advocate for stronger governance, accountability and transparency which are fundamental in maintaining confidence of the administration of the global game.”
The NZF chief executive, Andrew Pragnell, said that its decision to withdraw support from Infantino was based on their values. “Everyone who’s connected to the game around the globe deserves to know where we stand,” he said. “New Zealand is a country that’s always led based on its values, and we’re really proud to put those first and put the fans and the football community first, because I think right now there are some pretty strong calls for change.
“There are an incredible group of hard-working professionals at that organisation who’ve been amazing to work with and actually our thoughts are with them at this time, because it’s a difficult time for them to be in this situation as well, and that’s concerning for us.
“So, while we reflect on a lot of positives that have come out of the organisation, ultimately, this type of proposal should never have emerged in the way it did.”
