FOOTBALL Federation chairman Steven Lowy insists he expects no repercussions from Australia's choice of support in the FIFA presidential elections, and welcomes the victory of European boss Gianni Infantino to succeed Sepp Blatter. 
Australia announced publicly - one of very few nations to be so open - that it would vote for the Jordanian Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, who ultimately polled third, ahead of the powerful president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa.
Sheikh Salman, the favourite to win the poll, surprisingly lost in two rounds to Infantino, who Lowy said brought "energy and capability" to the role of trying to rebuild FIFA's reputation.
The decision not to support Sheikh Salman threatens to reopen a divide with the west Asian nations who have regarded Australia with hostility since FFA joined the AFC more than a decade ago.
But Lowy said the vote for Ali "was no surprise" for Sheikh Salman, whose campaign was dogged by allegations of vote buying and human rights issues.
"It was no secret Australia would be pledging support for Prince Ali - he was an Asian candidate, and we made it known to Sheikh Salman once our board decided how it would vote," said Lowy.
"We don't expect any repercussions from that as we voted for a very credible candidate from Asia. Australia is a very important contributor to Asian football on and off the field, commercially, in football development and so on - and we have more to contribute." Lowy said Infantino's election came on "a watershed day for FIFA, the best day it has had for a long time. Reforms have been put in place on transparency, gender equality and the separation of the board and executive powers.
"While our initial support was for Ali, we're still very pleased with the election of Infantino. He has deep experience in the game, and is a reform candidate, especially as a member of the committee that formulated the reforms." Australia's support for Ali seems to mark a determination from FFA to stand its ground within Asia, especially in concert with Japan and Korea, and conversations with Asian members seem to have given Australian officials confidence to do so.More football news, P58-59