Gianni Infantino faces soccer leaders who want him gone on Thursday, in his first meeting with FIFA's top brass since his plan to sell a stake in FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup, collapsed. The FIFA Council meeting in Zurich will bring together representatives of UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF - whose leaders have called for Infantino to resign - alongside counterparts from Africa, South America and Oceania.
The agenda includes a discussion of the failed FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme, which Infantino was forced to abandon within days of announcing it in July. Under that plan, Infantino proposed selling a minority stake in a FIFA commercial subsidiary to private investors, with a company launched by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, identified as the proposed lead investor.
The 37-member council will also address FIFA's governance, with some of the sport's most powerful figures determined to limit Infantino's powers if they cannot force him out of office. Infantino, 56, is due to stand for re-election in March 2027, with a November 18 deadline for potential candidates to submit nominations. Former Switzerland and Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega announced last week that he intends to stand, though he has not confirmed whether he has the backing of the five national associations required to enter the race.
The FFE plan exposed a split in world soccer, with UEFA's Aleksander Ceferin, AFC's Salman Al Khalifa and CONCACAF's Victor Montagliani saying it was time for a change at the top of FIFA. Infantino, however, has been canvassing support as he bids to remain in power, receiving a standing ovation when he met African soccer leaders last week in Cape Verde. He is also expected to be backed by South America at next year's election in Rabat, Morocco, and despite the AFC's criticism of his leadership, many Asian countries, including a bloc of Arab nations, have offered their support.
People familiar with the matter told Reuters that although the chances of finding someone to replace Infantino were remote, his opponents were determined to leave him more isolated and curb his powers. Council members are also expected to discuss FIFA's financial reserves and how much money can be released to member associations, as well as its disciplinary procedures, governance framework and the Peace Prize, which was controversially awarded to U.S. President Donald Trump last year.
Last month, UEFA and CONCACAF called on FIFA to release $10 million to each of its 211 member associations, countering Infantino's FFE proposal, under which associations could receive $20 million in development funding and potentially access a further $20 million. A document dated October 14, reviewed by The Associated Press, reportedly proposed a $6.35 billion fund for soccer development between 2027 and 2030, raising payments to $25 million per national association from an original $10 million, with more than $3.5 billion to be drawn from FIFA's financial reserves, citing commercial success from the 48-team World Cup.
Calls for a frank discussion
Emanuel Medeiros, founder and Global CEO of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance, said FIFA needed to have a "frank discussion" in Zurich. "The eyes of the world are on them," he said. "The world of football expects to see a council that takes this unique opportunity to establish a genuinely independent, comprehensive and transparent governance review... We certainly wish to see a new impetus, a new dynamic."
Lawyer and politician Miguel Maduro, who was chairman of the FIFA Governance Committee in 2016 before being sacked by Infantino, said he would be surprised if anything meaningful came of Thursday's meeting. "They may announce the setting up of a Working Group or even an Independent Review of FIFA Governance but the credibility of either exercise will be very limited in the light of FIFA's track record," he said. "Such an exercise, if not genuinely independent and enforceable, might be more of the same: a window dressing exercise simply aimed at reducing public pressure and to state they have now addressed whatever problems they had."
