Losing support for direct confrontation (8)
I believe the answer is:
showdown
'confrontation' is the definition.
(I know that confrontation can be written as showdown)
'losing support for direct' is the wordplay.
'losing' becomes 'down' (down can mean losing a sports match).
'support for' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, some letters 'support' others).
'direct' becomes 'show' (showing is a kind of directing).
'down' put after 'show' is 'SHOWDOWN'.
(Other definitions for showdown that I've seen before include "Final confrontation as in western film" , "Denouement" , "Dramatic conclusion" , "Face-off" , "Decisive confrontation" .)