Pressure on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to resign or face a vote of no confidence has spread from European football to North American politics.

The Associated Press reported that European Leagues, the association representing major professional football leagues including the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, and Italy's Serie A, issued a statement yesterday (August 5, local time) demanding governance reforms at FIFA.

In the statement, European Leagues labeled Infantino's plan to sell stakes in major tournaments such as the World Cup—which triggered the crisis—as a "dangerous concept," pointing out that "serious doubts" have been raised regarding FIFA's governance, internal culture, and decision-making structure.

The association argued, "Governance reforms ensuring that stakeholders play a formal role in decisions shaping the future of football are needed at FIFA now more than ever."

The group also opposed Infantino's plan to significantly expand the number of participating nations in the World Cup to 64, noting that "FIFA must not be allowed to continue making unilateral and destructive decisions."

It further stated its policy to refuse the expansion or establishment of new FIFA competitions until governance reforms are implemented.

Luis Figo, the legend of the Portugal national team and Real Madrid (Spain), also demanded Infantino's resignation, stating that he has "undermined the authority of the presidency."

Voices of no confidence against Infantino are also emerging from Canadian political circles, which had cooperated with FIFA to host the 2026 North American World Cup.

Earlier that day, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described Infantino's unilateral decisions as "fatal," stating, "Clearly, I do not trust President Infantino."

Previously, FIFA pursued a plan to sell portions of its stakes in the World Cup and other major tournaments to private investors.

The plan involved establishing a new for-profit entity called "FIFA Forward Enterprise" (FFE) dedicated to tournament operations and raising up to $4.2 billion (approx. 6 trillion won) through equity sales.

The stake sale was set to be led by Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm headed by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Although Infantino withdrew the plan after strong backlash from UEFA, CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the fallout has not subsided.

Following Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark effectively moving to vote no confidence in Infantino, the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and the English Football Association (FA), the governing body of the "home of football," also announced on August 3 that they would withdraw their support.

However, Infantino's resolve to seek a fourth consecutive term appears unchanged.

Infantino held an emergency leadership meeting in Morocco that day.

FIFA later stated via its website that attendees, including the secretary general, "reaffirmed their full support for Gianni Infantino as the sole president elected by FIFA's 211 member associations."

It emphasized, "We are confident that the outcome of today's meeting will help strengthen FIFA's governance, restore trust in the organization, and prepare for upcoming major tournaments and challenges in a united and transparent manner, allowing us to continue fulfilling our mission for the development of football."

Regarding FFE, FIFA explained, "We acknowledge the errors that occurred during the proposal process and did not intend to make the Council and member associations feel alienated."

It added, "In a separate letter sent to the Council and member associations, we apologized for the errors and pledged efforts to prevent recurrence. Related investigations will be conducted, and the results will be submitted to the next Council meeting."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)