FOOTBALL Federation chairman Steven Lowy is insisting 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.
AFC boss Sheikh Salman, the favourite to win the poll, surprisingly lost in just two rounds to Infantino, a Swiss, who Lowy said brought "energy and -capability" to the role of trying to rebuild FIFA's -shattered 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 increasingly dogged by allegations of vote-buying and human rights issues.
"It was no secret that 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," Lowy said.
"We don't expect any repercussions from that as we voted for a very credible candidate from Asia."Lowy said Infantino's election came on "a watershed day for FIFA".