BERN - Gianni Infantino has lost another ally, and this one is close to home. The Swiss Football Association said on Wednesday that it no longer supports his bid for another term as president of FIFA, world football's governing body.
Infantino, who grew up in Brig in the canton of Valais and holds Swiss and Italian citizenship, has led FIFA since 2016. The Swiss federation was among his earliest and most reliable backers, which makes Wednesday's statement more than a formality: a candidate for football's top job conventionally counts on a nomination from home.
A relationship that cooled in public
The association did not dress the decision up as a technicality. Its announcement ends years of public loyalty through a series of controversies around World Cup expansion, calendar congestion and the governance of the Zurich-based body. Swiss football officials have privately grumbled for some time that the federation's name was being spent on fights its clubs and members did not choose.
Infantino can still seek support elsewhere, and his power base inside FIFA has never depended on Bern alone. But the symbolism is awkward for a president who has made much of his Swiss roots, and it lands as national associations begin to position themselves for the next election cycle.
The SFA said it would focus on its domestic duties, from the national teams to the grassroots game. Whether another European federation now steps forward with a rival candidate is the question circulating in Zurich on Wednesday night.