Conmebol supports Infantino for FIFA presidency

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino attends a news conference after an Executive Committee meeting at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, January 22, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

ASUNCION - The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol), made up of 10 federations, announced its unanimous support on Thursday for Swiss candidate Gianni Infantino to succeed fellow countryman Joseph Blatter for the FIFA presidency.

"The Conmebol's Executive Committee has decided to support Gianni Infantino's candidacy and work plan for the FIFA presidency," announced the soccer organization via a press release published in Paraguay's capital city of Asuncion.

The publication also stated that the new Executive Committee, made up after the Extraordinary Congress elected Paraguayan Alejandro Dominguez as the new Conmebol president, "has given its unanimous approval," for Infantino.

With this declaration, Infantino, the current general secretary of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), adds more support to his FIFA presidency campaign. This support joins that of his current association (UEFA) and also the Central American Football Union (UNCAF).

The other candidates, who will participate in the elections on Feb. 26 in Zurich (Switzerland), are Frenchman Jerome Champagne, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale and Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa from Bahrain.