Infantino, who is one of five candidates seeking to replace Sepp Blatter as President ahead of the election on February 26, received the backing from the European Club Association (ECA) after their 143 members attended their 16th General Assembly here in Paris.

The 45-year-old is up against Asian Football Confederation President Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa of Bahrain, Jordanian FA President Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Frenchman Jérôme Champagne and South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale in the election in Zurich.

The Swiss was present at the meeting, alongside FIFA’s acting deputy secretary general Marco Villiger, with both officials updating the clubs on matters in both of their organisations.

Infantino was also able to put forward his vision as a FIFA presidential candidate, with the ECA then declaring their support for his campaign, after he pledged to create a reformed FIFA “built on transparency, robust governance, solidarity and a renewed focus on football development”.

“The European clubs have a very good and long-lasting relationship with Gianni Infantino,” said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, ECA chairman.

“We have achieved a lot together over the past years at UEFA level.

“In the spirit of football, we support Gianni and we wish him the best of luck and success for the upcoming FIFA elections.”

However as part of his manifesto, which was unveiled on January 19, Infantino had vowed to expand the World Cup to 40 teams from the current 32.

The expansion for the 2026 tournament had been proposed by FIFA’s Executive Committee in December, although a decision has yet to be made.

In a statement the ECA once again expressed their disapproval at the notion by arguing that the increased tournament would put further strain on players in an already packed schedule.

“The clubs acknowledge the importance of national teams for each country and, in particular, the Federations,” the statement read.

“However, the healthy balance between club and national team football must not be put at risk.

“The burden imposed on players has reached its limits; all football stakeholders must protect the players, the key element of the game, from physical overload.”

The ECA, which has representation from clubs such as Real Madrid and Manchester United, also called upon FIFA to work with clubs, players and leagues, in addition to taking into account the interests of their member associations.

Ahead of the 2018-21 UEFA club competition cycle, the ECA exchanged ideas on the future of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League tournaments, with the body stating they were seeking to continually develop the events.