FIFA President Gianni Infantino will get South American soccer’s backing whereas at Abelardo de la Espriella’s inauguration.
Printed On 8 Aug 2026
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has acquired assist from a number of main South American soccer figures as he visited Colombia amid the disaster engulfing world soccer’s governing physique.
Infantino arrived early on Friday within the Colombian metropolis of Cali to attend the inauguration ceremony of hard-right President Abelardo de la Espriella.
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Pictures launched by the Colombian Soccer Federation present a smiling Infantino standing alongside South American Soccer Confederation (CONMEBOL) president Alejandro Dominguez and the president of the Colombian federation, Ramon Jesurun.
The go to to Colombia comes as the top of world soccer has been embroiled in a storm following a much-criticised and in the end deserted plan to open the World Cup to personal funding.
The 56-year-old Italian-Swiss lawyer, who has been in workplace since 2016, declined to reply a query from an AFP information company journalist about whether or not he thought-about FIFA’s woes to be over.
Later, whereas attending a youngsters’s soccer competition at a sports activities complicated in Cali, he spoke of his “happiness” at being on the occasion.
“It’s a pleasure to be right here as we speak,” the FIFA boss advised dozens of kids kitted out in soccer gear.
“Soccer is pleasure, soccer is happiness, soccer is unity”, he mentioned, including that “so many champions” have been born “on this a part of the world, on this a part of Colombia”.
CONMEBOL throws backing behind Infantino
Infantino, who will search a fourth and last time period within the FIFA presidential election in Rabat subsequent March, is dealing with criticism, notably from European physique UEFA, which on Thursday maintained its threat to boycott the World Cup regardless of FIFA’s withdrawal of the personal funding proposal.
CONMEBOL, which has solely 10 FIFA-affiliated members however consists of iconic federations resembling Argentina and Brazil, had on Thursday expressed its “concern relating to the repeated unilateral actions taken” by FIFA.
Nevertheless, when requested by a Colombian media outlet on Friday, the CONMEBOL president acknowledged that “one can not ignore the good work” performed by Infantino.
“We should proceed working for soccer by means of dialogue; it’s not essential to at all times agree,” Dominguez mentioned.
After the highly effective Argentine Soccer Affiliation (AFA) and the Paraguayan federation pledged their backing on Thursday, Infantino additionally acquired assist on Friday from two different South American federations – Venezuela’s and Ecuador’s.
Consistent with their confederation’s assertion, they welcomed the withdrawal of the controversial plan to create a business entity, referred to as the FIFA Ahead Enterprise, open to personal traders.
In a letter to the FIFA chief, Ecuadorian federation president Francisco Egas Larreategui added that he had confidence in Infantino, “in addition to in these presently main soccer to proceed working for the nice of our sport”.
Near figures on the precise of politics, resembling US President Donald Trump, Infantino attended de la Espriella’s presidential inauguration ceremony afterward Friday.
Colombia’s incoming chief has damaged with custom by selecting to carry the ceremony in Cali, thought-about the capital of salsa, fairly than earlier than Congress in Bogota.
