Gianni Infantino (Photo: Reuters)
According to The Guardian, representatives of European national associations and senior UEFA officials expect Infantino to face a rival in the election for the first time in a long while. The vote will take place on 18 March 2027 in Rabat, Morocco, and the deadline for nominating candidates is 18 November 2026.
UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation are opposed to Infantino’s re-election. Dissatisfaction has intensified following the scandal surrounding the sale of World Cup tickets. However, it has not yet been possible to unite the opponents behind a single candidate.
The heads of the three confederations – Aleksander Čeferin, Victor Montagliani and Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa – have ruled out standing for election themselves. Speculation regarding the possible nomination of Arsène Wenger and Michele Kang has also not been confirmed. Among the potential contenders, the name of former Portugal captain Luís Figo has been mentioned; he had previously called on Infantino to resign. Officially, none of these potential candidates has yet been nominated.
According to sources cited by The Guardian, members of the opposition campaign intend to announce the name of their candidate as close to the deadline as possible. They fear that a premature announcement would give FIFA more time to counter the nomination. These concerns reflect the position of Infantino’s opponents and do not constitute evidence of interference by the organisation.
Infantino faces criticism
At the FIFA Council meeting on 15 October, the president is set to discuss several contentious issues, including the scrapped Fifa Forward Enterprise project, the organisation’s newly established Peace Prize, and the decision to lift the ban on American striker Folarin Balogun at the World Cup.
The latter decision drew criticism following a statement by Donald Trump, the first recipient of the FIFA Peace Prize. In response, Infantino proposed amending the disciplinary regulations to strip the FIFA committee of the right to overturn one-match suspensions for players who have received a straight red card.
Whilst Infantino’s opponents are attempting to agree on a single candidate, the incumbent president retains the upper hand: no specific rival has yet been announced.
This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.
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