Gianni Infantino to stand for re-election, as FIFA claims ‘nothing has changed’
European governing body UEFA has led calls for Infantino to step down.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has reiterated his desire to stand for re-election despite the continuing controversy surrounding his leadership.
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Infantino refused to answer questions about his future when asked by reporters at the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Poland on Saturday.
He is under severe pressure to resign after trying to sell stakes in FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup, to private investors.
European governing body UEFA has led calls for Infantino to step down, with further opposition coming from the Asian confederation and the confederation that represents countries in North and Central America plus the Caribbean.
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A FIFA spokesperson said: “The FIFA president announced in April that he will stand for re-election in 2027. Of course, nothing has changed. Mr Infantino will be standing for re-election.”
UEFA has vowed to work together with other federations to find a credible alternative candidate should Infantino stand at the FIFA congress in March.
The comments come as UEFA is applying through the American courts for discovery of evidence and documentation linked to FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), the private company which was envisaged to run the World Cup and other FIFA competitions.
FIFA confirmed last month the plan had been to sell a 20 per cent stake in that company to private investors. The plan was withdrawn by FIFA president Infantino on August 1.
That withdrawal has not stopped UEFA from pursuing Infantino and other FIFA officials, with UEFA saying documents obtained were intended for use in preparing potential criminal proceedings in Switzerland.
The following day, FIFA sought approval to oppose UEFA’s request in the Southern District of Florida, a motion which was granted by the court on the next business day, August 31. FIFA has until September 28 to submit a full opposition to that court.
A similar motion to oppose was also filed in the Southern District of New York.
Documents from FIFA’s legal team describe UEFA’s applications as being “little more than press releases in further support of UEFA’s smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership”.
FIFA’s filing asks the New York court to defer consideration of UEFA’s discovery application until the Florida court has ruled on it, or requests that the court permit FIFA to oppose UEFA’s application no later than September 30.
The filing said UEFA’s motivation in its opposition to FFE and Infantino was “to prevent smaller countries from having the financial strength to compete with the European elite”.
It added: “If soccer is strengthened in the developing world, global competition increases, which ultimately reduces UEFA’s market power and provides more competition for its flagship tournaments.
“By raising funds to allow some of FIFA’s smaller member associations to better develop soccer, FFE would lead to more players from those nations choosing to represent their countries of origin and playing in their home leagues rather than playing abroad.
“All of this would erode UEFA’s dominance over other regions of the world.”
UEFA’s filing accused Infantino of “criminal mismanagement” in relation to FFE, and said the proposed sale of a stake for 4.2 billion US dollars in the company was “a fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit”.