BERLIN — European soccer body UEFA has detailed the kind of president it wants to replace Gianni Infantino running FIFA — “a respected and unifying figure, deeply rooted in football.”
A candidate that “represents FIFA globally and provides leadership without exercising management functions,” UEFA said on Thursday after a meeting of its 55 member federations that shaped a strategy to find an opponent for Infantino before a Nov. 18 deadline.
Exactly who that candidate could be was not discussed on Thursday, though it will not be UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and potentially also not be European in the search for global votes among 211 FIFA member federations.
Ceferin did use the meeting to confirm he will stand for re-election for a fourth and final term next April 22 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Like Ceferin, Infantino also was elected in 2016 and seeks a fourth term through 2031.
Slovenian lawyer Ceferin has led global efforts by soccer officials since July to oust Infantino from his increasingly executive-style presidency before or at the FIFA election next March 18 in Rabat, Morocco.
Infantino’s secretive and quickly defeated plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors pushed UEFA’s long-held unease with FIFA projects and governance toward running a rival against him.
“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 said in a statement after the day-long meeting in Berlin.
UEFA repeated an earlier promise that all of FIFA’s members should get a one-off $10 million dividend from the governing body’s reserves.
FIFA's cash reserves stand at close to $6 billion after a lucrative men’s World Cup held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
UEFA flags concern about ‘executive interference’ at FIFA
Addressing doubts about the integrity of some World Cup decisions by FIFA, the UEFA slate of future changes urged 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 for Cristiano Ronaldo, United States forward Folarin Balogun and Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi has provoked global concern.
Concerns about Infantino intervening in field-of-play issues date to FIFA inserting Lionel Messi’s team Inter Miami into the 2025 Club World Cup when it was not the Major League Soccer champion, and after no clear consultation or process to make the decision.
UEFA said its reforms slate for FIFA was backed by all of its members except Azerbaijan, which has pledged its vote to Infantino. One of Infantino's key aides in his globetrotting election campaign is from Azerbaijan.
In a pointed suggestion, UEFA's list of possible reforms included: “No FIFA resources may be used for personal or electoral interests.”
Infantino reminds African voters of their FIFA money
While UEFA was deciding its strategy against Infantino, its former long-time employee was in Cape Verde getting a standing ovation at a meeting of the 54 FIFA member federations from Africa.
The applause was urged by FIFA vice president Patrice Motsepe to members of the Confederation of African Football he leads.
Infantino had minutes earlier reminded his voters of investments FIFA made for African soccer since he was elected 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 tries again to be a FIFA presidential candidate
One person who said this week he does want to run against Infantino is former Switzerland and Tottenham defender Ramon Vega.
It would be Vega’s second attempt to challenge Infantino after he failed to get the required five voting federations to support an application in 2019. It is unclear if Vega meets the eligibility test of having had a recognized role in soccer for at least two of the past five years.
