AFRICAN football boss Patrice Motsepe says the position of embattled president Gianni Infantino can only be decided at the ballot box, as the FA of Ireland withdrew its support for his re-election today.

Europe’s governing body Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Concacaf, which oversees football in the ‌Caribbean, North and Central America, have accused Infantino of “deception” following his abandoned plan to sell off stakes in the men’s World Cup to private investors.

It is understood the trio want to give Infantino the chance to resign and leave his position with dignity without seeking re-election in March next year.

But Motsepe, a Fifa vice-president and president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), insists that if opponents want to “take out” Infantino they must follow procedure and go through the ballot box.

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

“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.”

Motsepe was in Salzburg to hold talks with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin amid the crisis that has engulfed Fifa since Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plans were made public.

The FA of Ireland (FAI), meanwhile, has become the latest Fifa member to withdraw its support for Infantino to be re-elected.

“Following an FAI board meeting, the decision was taken to rescind the letter of support that the Association supplied earlier this year,” the organisation said in a statement.

“It has since written to Fifa to explain its reasoning. The Association is grateful for the support that Fifa provides to Irish football, but recent events have raised significant concerns regarding governance, transparency and the lack of meaningful consultation.

“Considering the governance challenges that the FAI has had to overcome in recent years, the Association feels a particular obligation to advocate for and uphold best practice.”

The Irish FA in Northern Ireland released their own statement, saying: “We take our responsibilities as a member association of both Uefa and Fifa seriously.

“We support the current Uefa position on the matter and will continue to engage constructively on issues relating to football governance.”