FIFA President Gianni Infantino has received a green light for his bid for a fourth term after securing the backing of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), with which he had previously been at odds.

Reuters reported that AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa expressed support for Infantino's fourth-term bid during an extraordinary AFC congress held in Tokyo, Japan, on the 23rd.

Shaikh Salman emphasized at the congress that Asia is united around President Infantino.

He also stated that the two parties have reached a mutual understanding and that it is now time to "move forward."

President Infantino visited Tokyo this week, campaigning among Asian football leaders in conjunction with the AFC president and general secretary conference and the extraordinary congress.

Just two months ago, the AFC criticized the "FIFA Forward Enterprise" (FFE) initiative pushed by President Infantino as a "fundamental breach of trust."

The FFE was a plan to establish a new corporate entity to manage commercial rights linked to major FIFA tournaments such as the World Cup and to attract private investment.

Shaikh Salman, along with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin and CONCACAF President Víctor Montagliani, opposed the initiative, and calls for President Infantino's resignation followed.

Ultimately, President Infantino withdrew the plan and apologized at a closed-door FIFA Council meeting held in Zurich, Switzerland, last week.

Reuters analyzed that President Infantino's swift retreat and his promise to distribute 25 million dollars (approx. 33 billion KRW) to each member association helped mend relations.

In FIFA presidential elections, each member association casts one vote, regardless of the country's size or football standard.

Among the 47 AFC members, 46 are FIFA members with voting rights.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF), which has 54 member associations, has already stepped forward to support President Infantino.

While the backing of continental confederations does not legally bind individual member associations, President Infantino has secured a firm advantage among the 211 member associations.

The center of the opposition camp is UEFA, which has 55 member associations.

However, even if all of Europe supports another candidate, it amounts to just over a quarter of the total votes.

Europe has yet to field a competitive challenger.

Reuters projected that "unless UEFA urgently puts forward a candidate capable of drawing support outside of Europe, this election will not be a battleground testing leadership, but rather an occasion to confirm his grip on power."

Registration for candidates for the FIFA presidency closes on November 18, and the election will be held in March next year.

(Photo: Getty Images)