<\/p>\n
Gianni Infantino will stand in next March\u2019s FIFA presidential election, despite the backlash over his now-abandoned plan to bring private investment into the World Cup, football\u2019s global governing body announced Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FIFA President announced in April that he will stand for re-election in 2027,\u201d a FIFA spokesperson said. \u201cOf course, nothing has changed. Mr Infantino will be standing for re-election.\u201d <\/p>\n
\ufeffGet all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n The 56-year-old Swiss has taken a pummelling since the announcement in late July of his short-lived FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan to bring private investment into FIFA events.<\/p>\n But now for the first time since the plan became public, FIFA has reiterated Infantino\u2019s intention to run for a fourth and final term in next year\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n Should he be re-elected, he will continue to serve as head of world football until 2031.<\/p>\n Infantino is in Poland for the Women\u2019s Under-20 World Cup, but refused to answer queries about his future when questioned by journalists on Saturday.<\/p>\n – Only candidate –<\/b><\/p>\n European body UEFA has accused Infantino of \u201ccriminal mismanagement\u201d over the scheme and was the ringleader of the initial fightback to the announcement, including threatening to boycott all FIFA competitions, including the men\u2019s and women\u2019s World Cups, if it was not shelved.<\/p>\n If UEFA withdrew its threat to boycott FIFA tournaments on August 27 — ahead of the Women\u2019s Under-20 World Cup in Poland — it remains absolute in its conviction that Infantino must depart his role.<\/p>\n The European body has filed requests in the USA for the disclosure of documents related to the plan from FIFA and partners.<\/p>\n If successful in gaining access to the documents, UEFA had said it intends to lodge a legal complaint in Switzerland, saying it has been assured the case would meet the requirements to be heard in a Swiss court.<\/p>\n It has also found solid support from North American body CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in its actions against Infantino.<\/p>\n The three confederations have kept up the pressure and collaborated on a no-holds-barred joint letter issued last month.<\/p>\n \u201cLeadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding — or demanding — power to be held,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/b><\/p>\n PL Wrap \u2014 England teammates\u2019 fiery spat in heated derby as Utd stunned by last-gasp rocket<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \ufeffAnge suffers \u2018frustrating\u2019 Saudi setback… as outraged star threatens to \u2018expose this league\u2019<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n