Infantino says he has 'overwhelming majority' support for new term despite World Cup rights row

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he has received the support of an "overwhelming majority" of member associations in his bid for re-election, despite criticism of his initiative to sell part of the World Cup's rights to private-sector investors.

Infantino told the BBC that organizations like FIFA include divergent views, and that democracy means respecting the opinion of the majority, stressing that football "belongs to everyone" and that associations must respect the choices of the majority.

He said he had just returned from Tokyo where he received full backing from the Asian Football Confederation, and that his visit to Cape Verde saw support from all African countries for him, noting that he continues to engage with federations around the world.

So far no other candidate has come forward to challenge Infantino, with less than a month remaining until the deadline for nominations set for 18 November.

The Asian Football Confederation announced its support for Infantino on Friday, a boost seen as supporting his hopes of winning a fourth term. Infantino holds Swiss-Italian nationality and is 56 years old.

Infantino's future had been thrown into doubt about two months ago after angry reactions to his project to sell part of the commercial rights to competitions organized by FIFA to private investors. The presidents of UEFA, the Asian confederation and CONCACAF signed a letter saying that football "is not the property of any individual."

Infantino added that he apologized last week for the private investment project that failed, while saying he is now in a strong position to secure re-election at the congress scheduled for March next year.