Gianni Infantino's Future: Can FIFA's President Be Removed?

The fastest way for Infantino to leave office would be to step down voluntarily, as his predecessor Sepp Blatter did in 2015.

However, Infantino continues to have support and may attempt to remain in charge until March, when he is expected to seek re-election for a fourth and final presidential term.

What other options are available?

The FIFA Council could seek to increase the pressure on Infantino by arranging an emergency meeting.

Such a meeting can be called if at least 19 of the council’s 37 members request it.

The council includes nine UEFA representatives, seven from the AFC, five from Concacaf, six from Africa, five from Conmebol and three from Oceania. Infantino and secretary general Mattias Grafstrom make up the remaining members.

There are doubts over whether the required 19 votes could be secured.

If that threshold is reached, the meeting must be held within two weeks. The council could then ask Infantino to submit his resignation, although he would be free to reject the request.

Even so, the move would place him under greater pressure.

Another option would be to convene an extraordinary congress involving FIFA’s 211 member associations. This would happen if one-fifth of them, or 43 associations, submitted a written request.

With 55 member nations, UEFA has enough support to initiate an extraordinary congress on its own.

The process would take at least two months and probably closer to three, with no certainty that the effort would succeed.

In practice, it would resemble an election with no opposing candidate, as a no-confidence motion would require 106 votes to pass.

UEFA controls 55 votes, Africa has 54, Asia 46, Concacaf 35, Oceania 11 and Conmebol 10.

The African, Conmebol and Oceania confederations have not spoken out against Infantino’s proposal.

It is therefore uncertain whether UEFA could gather the necessary 106 votes. Although 136 countries formally opposed the investment proposal, rejecting a policy is very different from supporting Infantino’s removal.

Among those 136 countries, Qatar has already expressed public support for him, while Mexico has separated itself from Concacaf’s joint declaration.

The remaining possibility would be to identify a credible challenger for the presidential election in March.

Infantino faced no opposition when he won re-election in both 2019 and 2023. Anyone intending to challenge him for the presidency must declare their candidacy by 18 November.