According to Al Jazeera, the endorsement was delivered at the AFC extraordinary congress in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, October 23, 2026. Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the confederation’s president, publicly reaffirmed the body’s support for Infantino and his bid for a new mandate.
Al Jazeera describes the AFC as representing 47 member confederations. The scale of the confederation helps explain why its leadership’s backing was portrayed by BBC Sport and Yahoo Sports as a significant boost to Infantino’s campaign, although the endorsement itself does not establish how every member will vote.
Sheikh Salman’s message, as reported by Yahoo Sports and Al Jazeera, was that the AFC remained fully committed to supporting Infantino’s leadership. The endorsement therefore marks a clear statement of institutional support from Asian football’s governing body as Infantino seeks to continue leading FIFA.
The backing also comes after disagreements between Sheikh Salman and Infantino. Al Jazeera reported that Sheikh Salman referred to those earlier issues while presenting the two sides as ready to move forward together, rather than allowing the past dispute to define their current relationship.
According to Al Jazeera, the dispute included a now-scrapped private-investment plan to sell a stake in FIFA events, including the World Cup, to private investors. The report put the plan’s reported value at $4.2 billion. The available account does not establish further details about the proposal beyond that description.
Infantino’s re-election prospects were described as enhanced by BBC Sport and as receiving a significant boost by Yahoo Sports. Those assessments follow the AFC endorsement, but the evidence does not establish a voting result or show that all AFC members will support the same candidate.
Al Jazeera reported that the FIFA election is scheduled for March and that the deadline for candidates to file against Infantino is November 18. Its October 23 report said that no opposing candidate had filed by that date; the report did not explicitly identify the election year.
The endorsement gives Infantino a publicly stated commitment from the AFC leadership while leaving the wider contest unresolved. The confirmed development is the confederation’s support for another term, alongside the reported assessment that the backing improves his prospects; the formal voting picture remains dependent on the election process and any candidates who may enter it.