European football officials are growing more confident that a challenger will emerge to compete against Gianni Infantino in next year’s Fifa presidential election.
A senior representative of a European football association said they were optimistic that Infantino would have an opponent in March. Leading officials at Uefa and several national associations expressed similar expectations ahead of Thursday’s important Fifa council meeting.
Uefa, Concacaf – the governing body for North America, Central America and the Caribbean – and the Asian Football Confederation have indicated that they will oppose Infantino’s campaign for another term following controversy over World Cup commercial arrangements. However, they have yet to unite behind a credible contender before the 18 November deadline for submitting nominations to Fifa.
The leaders of the three continental organisations – Aleksander Ceferin, Victor Montagliani and Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa – have all ruled out entering the race. Reports that prominent figures such as Arsène Wenger or Michele Kang might become candidates have also been rejected.
Former Portugal international Luis Figo, who became the first retired player to urge Infantino to resign in August, has also been discussed as a possible contender. He is additionally viewed as a potential future Uefa president once Ceferin’s final term ends in 2031.
Although the list of possible challengers appears small, people familiar with efforts to oppose Infantino insist that progress is being made. One source said the eventual candidate would probably wait until shortly before the deadline to announce a campaign, limiting the opportunity for Fifa to obstruct the nomination. Those opposing Infantino believe the organisation’s resources are being used to support his re-election effort.
Members of Fifa’s 37-person council are expected to question Infantino about several matters, including the abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise initiative, the Fifa peace prize and the Folarin Balogun case, in which the organisation’s disciplinary committee lifted the United States striker’s suspension during the World Cup.
Seeking to address criticism of that ruling, which came after an intervention by Donald Trump, the first recipient of the Fifa peace prize, Infantino has proposed a rule change that would prevent the disciplinary committee from cancelling one-match suspensions imposed on players who receive a straight red card.
Infantino has promised to deliver a complete report on Fifa Forward Enterprise on Thursday, but, contrary to standard procedure, council members have not received the document in advance.
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