Australia falls into line with AFC stance but stops short of calling for Infantino’s head

Football Australia has joined a growing chorus placing pressure on Fifa president Gianni Infantino by calling for “clear and credible action” in response to the crisis engulfing world football.

It stopped short of calling for the Infantino’s resignation, however, in a three-paragraph statement issued on Tuesday, instead backing the Asian Football Confederation hours after its more strident attacks on the Fifa president.

“Football Australia supports the position expressed by our confederation, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), that the events of recent weeks must now be met with clear and credible action that continues to strengthen governance, transparency and accountability within Fifa,” a spokesperson said.

“Our focus remains on ensuring there is a transparent and appropriately independent process to understand what occurred, how and why it occurred, identify where governance, communication and decision-making processes fell short, and ensure the necessary lessons are learned and appropriate measures are taken to strengthen those systems and reduce the risk of such circumstances arising again.

“Football Australia will continue to engage actively and constructively with and through our confederation, the AFC, and alongside our fellow member associations as this process progresses.”

FA’s decision to speak up comes within a day of a letter co-signed by Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa which demanded from Fifa “leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it”.

Co-signed by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, the letter was an escalation in the backlash against Infantino’s hold over world football since the Swiss lawyer proposed the Fifa Forward Enterprise late last month.

That proposal – which would have privatised part of the World Cup – was withdrawn by Infantino after an immediate backlash, but the reversal has failed to insulate Fifa’s leadership from growing anger.

Despite the escalation in the past 24 hours, Infantino still retains support from African and South American nations and Donald Trump. The US president posted on Truth Social on Tuesday saying it would be a “terrible mistake” if Infantino was ousted as president.

The loss of support for Infantino from within AFC, which boasts 46-Fifa affiliated members, threatens to bring to an end his decade-long tenure at the summit of football, as a growing bloc stretching from North America across Europe to Asia mobilises for change even before next year’s Fifa presidential election.

Confederations appear to be splitting, however, and Asian confederation members Qatar, the UAE, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bhutan and Sri Lanka had issued support for Infantino prior to Sheikh Salman’s most recent contribution.

FA’s public stance clarifies the level of Australia’s allegiance to Infantino, even if it leaves them as a minor player in the groundswell against the Fifa president. Australia’s financially-stricken governing body would have benefited from the kind of additional investment Infantino had promised under the Fifa Forward Enterprise, and the Socceroos were part of the Fifa Series this year, a new invitational concept developed under Infantino.

Australia’s initial reluctance to join early European criticism of Infantino drew concern from some in the Australian football community. Those people may still be frustrated by FA, as it broadly maintained consistency with its Asian confederation colleagues, first by welcoming Fifa’s withdrawal of the controversial proposal alongside AFC and now backing in the stance of AFC president Sheikh Salman, without being a leading voice calling for change.

Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.