October 1 – The Latvian Football Federation (LFF) has supported FIFA President Gianni Infantino following his visit to Riga.
Local media reported that Vadims Ļašenko offered words of encouragement for Infantino, who has been campaigning around the world for support as he seeks to recover from the backlash over his abandoned plans to sell the World Cup.
“Gianni Infantino achieves so many things that it is difficult to list them all in one minute, but I am grateful for his global support and contribution to the development of football, and of course Latvia is always by his side,” said Ļašenko. “You can count on our support.”
The comments came as Infantino attended the inauguration of the LFF headquarters. Ļašenko, head of LFF since 2020, refrained from offering further details, but it is understood that Latvia would vote for Infantino in a possible presidential election.
The position of the LFF and Ļašenko, however, undermines European unity after UEFA led the fight to remove Infantino from office.
On Wednesday, the Swiss Football Association (SFV) became the latest European member association to withdraw support for Infantino, a Swiss national. The SFV explained: “From the perspective of the SFV, several incidents raise fundamental questions about leadership, governance, transparency and decision-making processes at FIFA.”
“As they have not been convincingly clarified, we cannot justify continuing to support Gianni Infantino’s candidacy.”
UEFA president Alexander Ceferin also spoke about Infantino at the European Football Clubs (EFC) General Assembly in Copenhagen, declaring that “the emperor is naked” and declaring “it’s time to say ‘enough'”.
Next week, UEFA and its member associations meet in Berlin, Germany. Gianni Infantino has confirmed that he will stand for re-election at the 2027 FIFA Congress in Rabat, Morocco.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at (email protected)
