“The Fifa president announced in April that he will stand for re-election in 2027,” a Fifa spokesperson said.

“Of course, nothing has changed. Mr Infantino will be standing for re-election.”

The statement from Fifa came less than a day after Infantino refused to answer questions over his future during the opening round of games at the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Poland.

The 56-year-old Swiss has been at the epicentre of the storm since late July when details emerged in the media of his Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan.

His brainchild involved spinning off Fifa commercial businesses – including World Cups and Club World Cups for men and women – into a €17 billion subsidiary with 20 percent owned by private investors including the Kushner family, which has links to the American president Donald Trump.

‘Plan will not proceed’

“Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,” Infantino said in a statement.

“Our purpose has always been, and will always be, to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”

Uefa, which organises football in 54 European countries, led the counter to Infantino’s proposals.

It said its members – which include 2026 World Cup winners Spain as well the 2026 semi-finalists France and England – would boycott all Fifa competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cups, if it was not shelved.

Concacaf, which runs the game in Central and North America as well as in the Caribbean, fell in behind Uefa along with the AsianFootball Confederation.

Expanded World Cup delivers as Infantino eyes 64 teams next

However, the Confederationof African Football as well as South America’s Conmebol have remained supportive of Infantino who took over from Sepp Blatter as Fifa president in February 2016.

 As the only declared candidate for the election, Infantino requires a majority of votes from the 211 federations affiliated to Fifa to win a fourth term and go on until 2031.

Should he succeed, he will become the 122-year-old organisation’s fourth longest serving president.

Jules Rimet, the Frenchman who co founded Fifa in 1904 and organised the inaugural World Cup in 1930, led Fifa between 1921 and 1954.

Joao Havelange from Brazil reigned for 24 years between 1974 and 1998 and Blatter ruled from 1998 until 2016 when he fell from power amid allegations of corruption.

In the wake of Blatter’s demise, an extraordinary Fifa congress in Zurich approved a move to limit presidents and senior officials to a maximum of three four-year terms.