UEFA has spelled out the kind of candidate it wants to run against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, describing the need for "a respected and unifying figure, deeply rooted in football." The European body made the statement on Thursday following a meeting of its 55 member federations in Berlin that shaped a strategy to find an opponent for Infantino before a November 18 deadline.
According to UEFA, the candidate should be someone who "represents FIFA globally and provides leadership without exercising management functions." Who that person might be was not discussed at Thursday's meeting, though UEFA confirmed it will not be UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, and said it could potentially not be a European candidate given the need to win votes among FIFA's 211 member federations.
Ceferin used the Berlin meeting to confirm he will stand for re-election to a fourth and final term as UEFA president, a decision expected despite Ceferin saying in 2024 that he would not be a candidate at the next election. That UEFA presidential election is scheduled for April 22 in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Ceferin has led efforts by soccer officials since July to oust Infantino from what UEFA describes as an increasingly executive-style presidency, with the push aimed at the FIFA election set for March 18 in Rabat, Morocco. The drive gathered pace after Infantino's secretive and quickly defeated plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors, which UEFA said pushed its long-held unease with FIFA's projects and governance toward running a rival against him.
In its Berlin statement, UEFA said: "FIFA also needs new leadership: a respected and unifying figure, deeply rooted in football, with the vision and experience to lead, the ability to command confidence across regions and an unequivocal commitment to development, reform, integrity and independence."
UEFA also repeated an earlier promise that all FIFA members should receive a one-off $10 million dividend from the governing body's reserves, which stand at close to $6 billion following a lucrative men's World Cup held across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Ceferin and other global soccer leaders are due to meet Infantino next week in Zurich for the first meeting of the 37-member FIFA Council since the private equity plan was revealed.
Concerns over executive interference
UEFA's slate of proposed reforms addressed doubts about the integrity of some World Cup decisions by FIFA, urging that "appointments and work of FIFA's oversight bodies are protected from presidential or executive interference." FIFA's handling of World Cup red card or player eligibility cases involving Cristiano Ronaldo, United States forward Folarin Balogun and Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi has provoked global concern, according to the report.
Questions about Infantino intervening in field-of-play issues date back to FIFA inserting Lionel Messi's team Inter Miami into the 2025 Club World Cup, despite the club not being Major League Soccer champion, a decision the report says came without clear consultation or process.
UEFA said its reform proposals for FIFA were backed by all of its members except Azerbaijan, which has pledged its vote to Infantino. One of Infantino's key aides in his election campaign is from Azerbaijan. UEFA's list of proposed changes also included a pointed line stating that "no FIFA resources may be used for personal or electoral interests."
German soccer president and FIFA Council member Bernd Neuendorf told reporters: "I'm not convinced personally that a credible reform process can be achieved under the current FIFA leadership."
Infantino courts African federations
While UEFA was shaping its strategy in Berlin, Infantino was in Cape Verde receiving a standing ovation at a meeting of the 54 FIFA member federations from Africa, applause that was urged by FIFA vice president Patrice Motsepe, who leads the Confederation of African Football.
Shortly before the ovation, Infantino reminded his voters of FIFA's investments in African soccer since his election in February 2016. "With the FIFA Forward program we have invested, in 10 years, 1 billion U.S. dollars in Africa, 500 million in the last four years. One hundred and 24 different projects and many other actions," Infantino said. "We need to continue, of course together, on this path."
Vega eyes another run
Former Switzerland and Tottenham defender Ramon Vega said this week that he wants to run against Infantino, which would mark his second attempt to challenge the FIFA president after failing in 2019 to secure the required support of five voting federations. It remains unclear whether Vega meets the eligibility requirement of having held a recognized role in soccer for at least two of the past five years.
