Gianni Infantino’s position as FIFA president is growing untenable as regional governing bodies continue to officially reject his plan to sell-off stakes of the World Cup to private investors.
UEFA’s 55 member associations insisted they would not participate in any FIFA tournament until plans for the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) were withdrawn and have confirmed that they will even boycott the next World Cup should they go through. Football Supporters Europe responded to this by posting “#InfantinOUT”.
Concacaf, the governing body for North America and the Caribbean, reiterated their own concerns over the lack of consultation and rejected the proposal, as did the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) who called for an “urgent review of its governance” at FIFA - piling more pressure on Infantino.
FIFA has so far refused to back down, insisting that “nobody is selling football” while asserting that their consultation process was “disrupted by incorrect media reports”, a move that felt like it was right out of the Donald Trump playbook.
But as once-loyal strongholds begin to turn on him less than a year out from the next FIFA presidential election in March 2027, could this be the end of Infantino?
Alexander Ceferin
Calls are growing from UEFA member associations to back a candidate to run against Infantino, and the European governing body’s president Ceferin appears the most qualified.
A rival of Infantino, Ceferin most recently no-showed the World Cup 2026 final after the tournament was plagued by controversy, most notably the suspension of Folarin Balogun’s red card ban following a “review” request from Trump, which UEFA said “crossed a red line”.
The Slovenian lawyer has been incumbent since 2016 but is reportedly keen to continue in his current role. He had initially ruled out standing for a third term next spring, at least until 3031, but is now willing to seek re-election if no other candidates step forward.
As things stand, it appears he is not eager to challenge Infantino for FIFA’s presidency, which has led UEFA members to look elsewhere.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi
The Independent understands that Paris Saint-Germain president Al-Khelaifi is currently being mooted as a challenger to Infantino.
Al-Khelaifi, whose primary role is chairman of Qatar Sports Investment, holds many senior positions within the game. After the collapse of the doomed European Super League, he was elevated to the top of the game’s main club body, European Football Clubs, which expressed “serious concern” about Infantino’s sell-off plan.
It’s reported by talkSPORT that multiple UEFA federations, including Belgium and Poland, would back Al-Kehaifi, who sees him as having the best chance of toppling Infantino at next year’s presidential election.
However, Al-Khelaifi would need serious persuading to stand as he currently holds no ambition to run for office.
A representative for Al-Khelaifi said, via Politico: “Nasser has absolutely no ambition, no intention, no interest in the FIFA role, and he will continue to discreetly support all the institutions of world and European football.”
Dariusz Mioduski
UEFA members are also exploring the possibility of backing Legia Warsaw owner Mioduski.
The Polish lawyer has been mooted by senior federation officials within Bosnia and Herzegovina, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Spain, according to talkSPORT.
But as of now, he would not be the preferred candidate in his homeland, with Poland’s FA keen on Al-Khelaifi.
Victor Montagliani
Away from UEFA, Concacaf president Montagliani has been rumoured as a potential successor to Infantino, with his ambitions to one day become FIFA president well known.
The Canadian was unanimously re-elected to lead the confederation in 2023 and his current term is set to end in 2027. His primary focus thus far has been to seek re-election again next year.
But according to The i, Montagliani is “making moves” towards expediting his aspirations and challenging Infantino for FIFA’s presidency in next March’s election.
Montagliani’s Concacaf followed UEFA’s suit in coming together to staunchly reject FIFA’s proposal, but did not go far as to threaten a boycott.
Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa
The AFC has also outwardly opposed Infantino’s plans in a heavy blow for the incumbent FIFA president, losing the support of what was once a loyal stronghold of the Swiss-Italian.
AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, a Bahraini football administrator who is also senior vice-president of the FIFA Council, branded FIFA’s lack of consultation with its members as “totally unacceptable” in a letter to the regional body’s 47 member federations on Thursday, a day before the confederation came together to reject the proposal.
That subsequent statement notably called for “an urgent review of its governance” to pile more pressure on Infantino. That begs the question: could Sheikh Salman be a potential challenger?
His term as AFC president comes to an end in 2027.
Arsene Wenger
Now this one is a bit of a long shot, but it might be one to watch.
Legendary former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has become increasingly engrained in the political side of the game in his role as FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development.
He’s not been scared to try and push through radical change in the past, with his “daylight offside rule” going on trial in Canada earlier this year.
And with some fans now expressing their dismay at his close association with Infantino and therefore this World Cup proposal, could Wenger stand up against the FIFA president to ensure his reputation isn’t sullied?
