Africa’s football confederation chief, Patrice Motsepe, has said that current FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s future must be decided by elections, after Ireland withdrew its support for the embattled FIFA president. Infantino is fighting to save his post after massive criticism for his aborted plan to sell stakes to private investors backfired.

The governing bodies of European football (UEFA), North and Central America (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC) stepped up the pressure on Infantino in a joint letter this week, declaring, “Trust is broken through deception when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority.”

It is learnt that these associations want Infantino to resign before he has the chance to seek re-election in March next year. However, the African federation chief is adamant that his fate must be decided in the elections via the ballot box.

“If anybody has got any problem against anybody, whether it’s Gianni or whether it is anybody else, follow the process, follow the FIFA process, simple as that,” Motsepe told reporters.

“If you want to take him out, go for elections; let the 211 member associations decide. Do that, and the vote will express whether they’ve got confidence in him or not. You’ve got to be very careful. There are elections taking place next year. Shouldn’t we allow that process to continue?” he asked.

On Thursday, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) became the latest FIFA member to withdraw its support for Infantino. The English FA and Welsh FA had already withdrawn their backing for the 56-year-old Swiss. Six Arab federations, including Qatar, Morocco and Egypt, offered their backing to Infantino on Thursday morning.