No rival has filed yet ahead of the 18 November deadline, and the AFC's votes could be key in March.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has endorsed FIFA president Gianni Infantino for another term. AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa made the announcement at the body's extraordinary congress in Tokyo on Friday, hugging Infantino in front of the membership as he spoke.
Sheikh Salman indicated that not every one of the AFC's 47 members would go along with the endorsement, but he said most would. Those votes could be a key to guaranteeing Infantino another mandate.
Sheikh Salman told Infantino, in front of the membership, what the AFC was committing to:
"We affirm our full commitment to supporting you and your leadership as you seek a new mandate as the FIFA president."
The endorsement is an abrupt turnaround for Sheikh Salman. Just over two months ago, the AFC had joined the governing bodies of Europe, and North and Central America in saying that Infantino had committed a "fundamental breach of trust."
Infantino apologised last week in Zurich to FIFA's 37-member ruling council, which he chairs, for "mistakes" he made in assembling a now-scrapped $4.2 billion plan for the World Cup, which involved selling stakes to private investors. He did not provide a full explanation of how the plan had been developed.
Sheikh Salman referred to earlier differences with Infantino without going into detail. He added that the past was part of the AFC's history, and that "What matters now is how we move forward together."
Infantino kept his speech light but acknowledged some errors. "When you do many things, you do - hopefully, as we did, many good things - you do some mistakes as well," Infantino said. He pointed to more millions flowing to FIFA's patronage network. Before he became president, he told the congress, each member was receiving $1 million every four years. From the first of January next year, it will be $25 million.
Infantino welcomed the endorsement. Asked about Sheikh Salman's remarks, the FIFA president responded: "I feel great about the AFC's support." He also praised the AFC president: "You've been doing a fantastic job in AFC in the last 13 years, my dear Salman."
The election is scheduled for March in Rabat, Morocco, and Infantino needs 106 votes from the 211 member associations to be re-elected. Challengers must confirm their candidacy by 18 November. None has filed so far, so the incumbent could stand unopposed. Montagliani, who heads Concacaf, and Aleksander Ceferin, the UEFA president, have both signalled they will not be running in the vote.
UEFA has given FIFA until 2 November to release key documents and answer questions on its governance and decision-making processes.
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