VANCOUVER — The Confederation of African Football, the Asian Football Confederation and CONMEBOL pledged their support for Gianni Infantino's re-election as FIFA President for the 2027-2031 term during the FIFA Congress in Vancouver. The three confederations together account for 111 of the 211 votes in FIFA's presidential election.

The Confederation of African Football unanimously agreed to back Infantino's candidacy. The Asian Football Confederation, which along with the African body controls 101 votes, also vowed its support, while CONMEBOL pledged the 10 votes under its purview.

AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said: "FIFA is in its best position ever and we offer our continued and full support to (Infantino) as a candidate for FIFA President for the term 2027-2031, just as the AFC and Asian football has always supported him since his election in 2016." The pledges of support from all three confederations were announced at the FIFA Congress.

Infantino became head of FIFA in 2016 following the downfall of his predecessor Sepp Blatter during a corruption scandal. He was re-elected in 2019 and again in 2023. FIFA statutes limit the FIFA President to three terms, but Infantino is eligible to run again in 2027 because his first partial term from 2016 to 2019 did not count toward the limit.

Initiatives introduced under Infantino have included expanding the World Cup to 48 teams and launching the revamped 32-team FIFA Club World Cup in 2025. The 2026 World Cup is expected to generate an estimated $13 billion in revenue. For the 2027-2030 cycle, FIFA pledged to distribute $2.7 billion to its 211 member associations through its FIFA Forward Program, eight times the amount distributed 10 years earlier.

Infantino has faced questions over his close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump, who was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize during the previous World Cup draw. Advocacy group FairSquare lodged a formal complaint with FIFA's ethics committee alleging that the award of the prize to Trump breached FIFA's rules on political neutrality.