India, Aug. 5 -- Two weeks after presiding over the men's world cup, Fifa president Gianni Infantino is facing the biggest challenge yet to his job that until recently looked untouchable.

A cluster of European football associations has publicly announced that they will withdraw support for his re-election bid in March 2027. And three of world football's six regional confederations - Europe's Uefa, north and central America's CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) - have spoken against his leadership after his abandoned plan to bring in private investors sparked fury across the globe.

At the heart of the storm is a proposal Fifa floated last week and formally scrapped within days. It was called the Fifa Forward Enterprise, ...