UEFA declares loss of confidence in Infantino and seeks a FIFA rival
European football's governing body has formally withdrawn its backing of the FIFA president after his abandoned World Cup sell-off plan, and is now coordinating with national associations to field a challenger at next year's election.
UEFA's leadership has told Gianni Infantino he no longer commands its confidence and has called for a "thorough and fundamental" review of FIFA's governance, escalating a crisis triggered by the president's aborted attempt to sell commercial stakes in the World Cup. The statement stopped short of demanding his resignation but made plain that his position is considered untenable.
In language striking for a governing-body communiqué, UEFA condemned "secret schemes," "shabby backroom deals" and "faceless individuals." The organisation's president, Aleksander Ceferin, who marshalled all 55 European member associations behind a World Cup boycott last Thursday, framed the episode as a test of whether football's institutions can still check unilateral power at the top.
European officials have already begun identifying a candidate to oppose Infantino at next year's FIFA presidential election. The 56-year-old had been expected to be re-elected unopposed for a third full term at the March congress in Rabat, and he holds more than 200 letters of endorsement from member associations. Those letters can, however, be withdrawn, and rival candidates have until 18 November to declare their intention to stand.
Names circulating among European officials include Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who also chairs the European Football Clubs lobby but appears reluctant to enter the race, Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, and Asian Football Confederation president Salman al-Khalifa, who lost narrowly to Infantino in 2016.
The revolt drew swift backing from national associations. The English FA endorsed UEFA's position and called for "a full and robust review of Fifa's leadership and governance." The Dutch KNVB said the matter was "not settled," declaring a "fundamental breach of trust" in Infantino's leadership. Germany's DFB president, Bernd Neuendorf, said Infantino had "acted unilaterally, opaquely and ultimately irresponsibly."
Speaking in Manchester on Saturday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the withdrawal of the sell-off proposal was the right decision, reiterating his earlier view that Infantino was "the wrong man to lead the organisation."
At the heart of the dispute was a plan to sell 20 per cent of a new commercial entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise, to private investors. Infantino argued the deal would raise payments to each of FIFA's 211 member associations from $8m to $20m per four-year cycle, plus a one-off $20m signing bonus. Critics described the structure as patronage designed to secure votes, and UEFA pointed to FIFA's reserves of more than $5bn as evidence that selling competition rights was unnecessary.
Concacaf issued its own statement echoing UEFA's call for a leadership review, calling the episode "a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first" and insisting that "accountability cannot be optional."
One voice of support came from Doha. Qatar FA president Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani said the association "fully supports President Infantino's efforts to continue growing and strengthening the game globally."
UEFA has pledged to work with other confederations on an overhaul of the FIFA Forward distribution system, arguing that idle reserves should fund grassroots development without "selling off the family silver." Ceferin's camp insists the abandonment of the sell-off is a beginning, not an end. As UEFA's statement put it: "The task of rebuilding trust in Fifa has only just begun."
