New Zealand became the latest country to withdraw its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s bid for a fourth term on Friday, citing concerns over the abandoned plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights to FIFA competitions.

The move comes as Infantino faces growing opposition, with three confederations — UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF — calling for a review of his leadership and criticising his handling of the proposed private investment deal.

Infantino is expected to seek re-election for another four-year term at next year’s FIFA Congress. His campaign continues to receive backing from the African and South American confederations.

New Zealand, the only Oceania Football Confederation nation to qualify for this year’s World Cup, said it had withdrawn its support for Infantino and called for an independent review of the proposed stake sale.

New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell said the decision was driven by a loss of confidence and trust in FIFA’s leadership.

Pragnell told Reuters that New Zealand wanted the review to be genuinely independent rather than an internal process, adding that such an approach could help rebuild trust in FIFA’s leadership.

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) said it welcomed FIFA’s decision to abandon the proposal, while noting that football in the region had made significant progress under the organisation’s current leadership.

The OFC also encouraged FIFA to use the independent review as an opportunity to assess its processes and introduce any necessary changes.

Infantino retains key allies

Infantino had proposed separating FIFA’s commercial rights to the World Cup and selling a 20% stake to private investors in a move that could have raised around $4.2 billion. FIFA later reversed course following widespread criticism.

The proposal included a $20 million grant for each member association during the next funding cycle, with the potential for the amount to double for associations that agreed to participate in the deal.

Following a crisis meeting in Morocco last week, FIFA apologised to its 211 member associations over the handling of the proposal and insisted that its leadership continued to have full backing for Infantino.

Despite opposition from three confederations representing 136 of FIFA’s 211 member associations, Infantino still retains significant support within world football.

Six Arab football association presidents, including representatives from Qatar and 2030 World Cup co-hosts Morocco, publicly backed Infantino on Thursday, praising his continued efforts to develop football globally.

The Confederation of African Football’s executive committee also unanimously reaffirmed its support for the FIFA president, although that does not necessarily guarantee a unified vote from all 54 African members.

New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell said an independent investigation into the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal should examine how decisions were made and how the process was overseen.

He also said the review should establish which individuals and organisations were involved in plans for Thrive Capital, a firm with family links to U.S. President Donald Trump, to play a major role in the proposed venture.

Pragnell stressed that all confederations should agree on the scope of the review and that the process should begin as soon as possible.

Australia, an AFC member, has also supported calls for an independent review alongside the Asian confederation, although it has not publicly taken a position on Infantino’s leadership.

Pragnell said New Zealand was closely aligned with Australia and the AFC on the issue, particularly following Australia’s support for the AFC statement.