Asian Football Confederation backs Gianni Infantino in U-turn on FIFA presidency

The Asian Football Confederation has endorsed Gianni Infantino for another term as FIFA's president in a turnaround in its stance from two months ago when itcriticised the headof football's world governing body for a breach of trust. The AFC president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, speaking at the body's extraordinary congress in Tokyo on Friday, embraced Infantino with a large hug in front of the membership as he delivered his endorsement.

"We affirm our full commitment to supporting you and your leadership as you seek a new mandate as the FIFA president. You've visited a lot of countries in Asia.

I've spoken to a lot of members within this continent. I know your feeling and I think your commitment is clear as well.

Even if all the members do not follow the direction of Sheikh Salman, those votes could be a key to guaranteeing another mandate for Infantino. The FIFA election is in March and nominations close on 18 November.

So far no one is standing against him. Addressing his remarks to Infantino, Sheikh Salman indicated not every AFC member would go along with the endorsement but that most will.

My feeling is, I'm sure, the feeling of most of my members," he said. "And I've said that to you.

This is an abrupt turnaround for Sheikh Salman. In August, the AFC joined UEFA and Concacaf - the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation - in saying that Infantino had committed a fundamental breach of trust".

They wrote an open letter calling for "leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it". Infantino apologised last week in Zurich to FIFA's council - which he chairs - for "mistakes" he made in assembling anow-scrapped $4.2bn planto sell chunks of the World Cup to private investors.

Sheikh Salman referenced the differences with Infantino in his speech but glossed over any details. "Yes, we had some issues we spoke about in the past," he said.