UEFA leaders are meeting in Berlin to shape a strategy for challenging Gianni Infantino’s presidency of FIFA, with European football’s governing body under pressure to identify a candidate before the race closes next month.
UEFA’s 55 member associations have been called to a summit on Thursday, held against the backdrop of growing opposition to Infantino and his increasingly executive style of leadership at world football’s governing body.
The meeting was scheduled before the current dispute intensified, but Infantino’s plan for private investment in the World Cup has added urgency to efforts to find an alternative. The proposal collapsed within days of being announced in July.
UEFA has also been preparing a possible criminal complaint in Switzerland over alleged financial mismanagement connected with the World Cup sell-off deal. It has asked courts in the United States to authorise the gathering of evidence.
“Somewhere along the way things went too far with FIFA, and we’re looking to put things back where they belong,” UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said last month.
UEFA must agree a FIFA challenger
European associations account for more than a quarter of FIFA’s 211 voting members, but their influence will depend on whether they can unite behind a single challenger. A candidate must be entered by November 18, ahead of the election on March 18 in Rabat, Morocco.
Infantino is understood to have about 90 votes pledged already, although that support was established before any opponent had been confirmed.
UEFA is not, however, a united bloc. Azerbaijan, the home country of one of Infantino’s close aides, and Latvia have promised him their backing. On Wednesday, Infantino met football and government officials in Prague.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin joined FIFA vice presidents from Asia and North America in August to accuse Infantino of deception and a breach of trust over the World Cup investment plan.
Neither Ceferin nor his counterparts, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain and Canada’s Victor Montagliani, currently appears set to contest the election. Ceferin has repeatedly rejected suggestions that he will run, although he said at UEFA meetings in Greece last month that there were “many, many” possible candidates.
Montagliani is expected to concentrate on seeking re-election as president of CONCACAF in February. Sheikh Salman previously challenged Infantino and had been the favourite in a five-candidate contest that Infantino eventually won in February 2016.
Speculation has also focused on Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the Paris Saint-Germain president and a close ally of Ceferin. But Al-Khelaifi ruled himself out last week at a meeting of the European Football Clubs group, which he leads.
The Berlin summit is the biennial business meeting for senior executives from UEFA’s member associations. Its agenda can cover policy, strategy and international competitions, while proposals for a more transparent FIFA and a presidential candidate committed to reform are expected to be discussed.
Theodoridis said the organisation’s longer-term approach included seeking changes to the way FIFA operates, as European leaders attempt to turn their opposition to Infantino into a coordinated election campaign.
