Gianni Infantino is endorsed by the Asian Football Confederation for another term as FIFA president

The Asian Foot­ball Con­fed­er­a­tion has en­dorsed Gi­an­ni In­fan­ti­no for an­oth­er term as FI­FA pres­i­dent in an ap­par­ent turn­around in its stance from two months ago when it crit­i­cized the head of soc­cer’s world gov­ern­ing body for a breach of trust.

AFC pres­i­dent Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khal­i­fa em­braced In­fan­ti­no with a large hug Fri­day in front of the Asian mem­ber­ship at an ex­tra­or­di­nary con­gress meet­ing in Tokyo, where he de­liv­ered his en­dorse­ment. It was a time­ly boost for In­fan­ti­no as he cam­paigns for re-elec­tion amid strong op­po­si­tion from Eu­rope

“We af­firm our full com­mit­ment to sup­port­ing you and your lead­er­ship as you seek a new man­date as the FI­FA pres­i­dent,” Sheikh Salman said. “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.”