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British press reports revealed that Swiss Gianni Infantino has received official endorsement from more than 200 national associations for his re-election as president of FIFA, despite the controversy that followed the crisis of canceling the suspension of player Folarin Balogun.

The Guardian reported that only a few of FIFA's 211 member associations have yet to send their letters of support for Infantino, who appears poised to win a fourth term by a landslide at the FIFA Congress scheduled for March next year.

Some European associations are among those that have not yet declared their support, with the German Football Association leading the most prominent.

Nominations must be submitted by November 18, and by then letters of endorsement can be withdrawn or transferred to another candidate. But Infantino remains the only candidate so far, while some associations say they have been subjected to continuous pressure from within FIFA to confirm their support for him, even though that is supposedly not allowed under FIFA's code of ethics.

Eliminating Infantino from the race appears to require what the newspaper described as a "political earthquake." Despite ongoing discontent after US President Donald Trump admitted he pressured FIFA to reconsider the red card shown to US forward Balogun against Bosnia and Herzegovina, most objections are concentrated within European associations and related bodies.

Infantino does not need Europe's support to secure a sweeping victory, and the majority of European associations have already confirmed their backing for his re-election. The English Football Association is among those that sent its letter of support long before the World Cup began.

Infantino

Over the past ten days, the idea of pushing a European-backed candidate to challenge Infantino has gained momentum in closed-door meetings, but agreement among several associations on a single name still seems a distant possibility.

UEFA has opposed FIFA on a number of issues recently, including the Balogun case and the decision to exclude Somali referee Omar Artan from the World Cup, but it remains unclear whether UEFA's leadership will officially support a candidate in the election.

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