Officials who could challenge Infantino for the FIFA presidency
· Yahoo Sports
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has failed with his plans involving billion-dollar investors in events including the World Cup which could also impact his planned re-election.
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Infantino wants to run for another four-year term at the FIFA congress in Morocco in March and has reportedly support from a vast majority of the 211 FIFA members.
But this could have changed now. Europe's UEFA has said it has lost confidence in him and the Asian confederation AFC and that from North and Central America and the Caribbean, CONCACAF, have criticised how he leads football's ruling body. There have also been calls that he should resign.
Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 and was re-elected unopposed in 2919 and 2023.
There is also no rival candidate at the moment but with criticism fierce someone may step up to challenge Infantino. Candidatures must be submitted by November 18.
Following are possible candidates:
Aleksander Ceferin (58 years)
The UEFA president is familiar with close combat as Aleksander Ceferin was once a karate fighter. The lawyer from Slovenia likes to present himself as the opposite of Gianni Infantino, although he has also vigorously pushed commercialization at the European football association. Near the end of his tenure as UEFA boss, since he will not run again in 2027, Ceferin organized the European protest against his FIFA rival. After a certain period, every organization needs “fresh blood,” he said at the beginning of 2024. Does that also apply to him and FIFA?
Nasser Al-Khelaifi (52)
He did not dismiss the idea of a World Cup every two years, which Gianni Infantino proposed in 2021. Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of the powerful club association European Football Clubs, said he was open to a discussion. Al-Khelaifi, president of Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain since 2011 and, among other roles, a board member of the sports and entertainment network beIN, has already stated that he has no interest in the position of FIFA president. For now, he remains a member of the UEFA Executive Committee and a close ally of Ceferin.
Mattias Grafström (45)
The son of a Swedish father and a Dutch mother was once the Swiss junior table tennis champion. Mattias Grafström, however, built his career as a football administrator and was officially appointed FIFA secretary general in 2024, following an interim period, succeeding Senegal's Fatma Samoura. Grafström is a close confidant of Gianni Infantino. But according to media reports the official is said to see an opportunity to claim the highest position in world football.
Victor Montagliani (60)
The World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico was his home tournament. Victor Montagliani was born in Vancouver and became president of the Canadian Soccer Association in 2012. After then-CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb was arrested in a FIFA corruption scandal in 2015, a major opportunity for advancement opened up for him. Since 2016, Montagliani, who counts coaching legend Carlo Ancelotti among his close associates, has led the continental federation responsible for North and Central America and the Caribbean. CONCACAF unanimously rejected Infantino’s investor plans.
Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa (60)
Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa has challenged Gianni Infantino once before, in 2016. But the Bahraini administrator was narrowly beaten in the FIFA presidential election. Al Khalifa faced allegations of corruption and human rights violations at the time. Infantino’s investor plans were rejected by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), of which Al Khalifa is president. He stated that a collective dialogue was necessary and that respect should be shown for the leadership in office.