New Zealand Withdraws Support for Infantino's Re-Election

New Zealand has broken ranks in football’s biggest power struggle, pulling its support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s re-election and demanding an independent investigation into his abandoned commercial rights plan.

The move leaves Oceania split: one of its most influential members has turned away, while the regional confederation still stands behind Zurich.

New Zealand breaks with Infantino

Infantino, who will seek a fourth term at next year’s FIFA Congress, is under mounting pressure after a storm over his proposal to carve out a chunk of FIFA’s commercial rights and sell a 20 percent stake to private investors. The plan, which aimed to raise about $4.2bn and dangled a $20m grant for each member association – potentially doubled if they signed on – was scrapped after fierce backlash.

For New Zealand, that U-turn was not enough.

On Friday, New Zealand Football confirmed it had withdrawn support for Infantino’s re-election, citing a loss of confidence and trust in FIFA’s leadership and calling for an independent review of the scrapped stake sale proposal.

“We’ve called for an independent review specifically because what we don’t want to see is a sort of in-house quick washover of this,” NZF chief executive Andrew Pragnell told Reuters. He said only a truly external process could help restore trust, echoing demands already voiced by other confederations.

New Zealand is the only Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) nation to have qualified for this year’s World Cup, giving its stance extra weight in a region that has traditionally backed FIFA’s incumbents.

Oceania backs the system, not the revolt

Even as New Zealand stepped away, the OFC itself chose a different line.

In a statement, the confederation said it welcomed FIFA’s decision to withdraw the proposal and stressed that football in the region had grown under the current leadership. It praised “the progress achieved over the last decade in advancing football development in Oceania under FIFA’s leadership” and urged FIFA to use the forthcoming review to identify and implement any necessary changes.

So Oceania now speaks with two voices: one calling for deeper scrutiny and accountability, the other emphasising continuity and development gains.

A president under siege – and still backed

The commercial rights plan has triggered open revolt in parts of the game’s political map. UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF have all demanded a review of Infantino’s leadership and sharply criticised his handling of the bid to bring private investment into FIFA competitions.

Collectively, those three confederations account for 136 of FIFA’s 211 member associations – a powerful voting bloc ahead of the presidential election in March.

Yet Infantino is far from isolated.

Africa and South America have already declared their continued support. The Confederation of African Football’s executive committee unanimously backed him, even if that does not automatically guarantee all 54 African members will vote as one. Six heads of Arab national associations, including Qatar and 2030 World Cup co-host Morocco, also publicly rallied behind him on Thursday, praising his “sustained efforts to advance football globally”.

After a crisis meeting in Morocco last week, FIFA apologised to its 211 members for “mistakes” in handling the proposal and insisted its leadership retained full support for Infantino.

The political battle lines are now clear. The question is how deep the damage runs inside FIFA’s corridors.

Who signed off on Thrive Capital?

For Pragnell and New Zealand Football, the stakes go beyond one abandoned deal.

He said any independent review of the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal must dig into how decisions are made at FIFA and what oversight exists at the top. Crucially, he argued, it should also identify who was involved in the plan for Thrive Capital – a firm with close familial links to former US president Donald Trump – to play a leading role in the venture.

“I think the scope needs to be considered really carefully, but what’s most important is that all confederations should agree on the scope, and it needs to get under way with urgency,” Pragnell said.

Australia, another key voice in the Asia-Pacific region and an AFC member, has also called for an independent review, aligning itself with the Asian bloc’s stance. It has not, however, publicly declared a position on Infantino’s leadership.

“Based on what we’ve seen, including [Australia’s] commitment to the AFC statement, we’re strongly aligned,” Pragnell added, underlining a growing front across the Tasman Sea.

As the countdown to the FIFA Congress begins, the numbers may still favour Infantino. But with trust openly questioned from Wellington to Europe’s power centres, the real contest now is not just about votes – it is about who controls the future shape, and soul, of world football’s governing body.