Nasser Al-Khelaifi will not stand at the 2027 FIFA presidential election. That was the message a spokesperson for the Paris Saint-Germain and European Football Clubs chairman delivered in a statement to Goal on 31 July.

“Mr Al-Khelaifi has no ambition, intention or interest in this position at FIFA, nor in all this media noise. On the contrary, he will continue his support, in a wise and constructive manner, for all global and European football institutions.”

The Qatari executive had been named in reporting from Politico and The Telegraph as UEFA’s favoured candidate. His own country’s football association had, meanwhile, publicly backed Infantino for a fourth term.

Candidates have until 23:59 CET on 18 November to submit a nomination backed by five member associations. The election itself is on 18 March 2027 at the 77th FIFA Congress in Rabat, Morocco.

Read also: FIFPRO says football's trust in Infantino is 'fundamentally broken'

Montagliani stays silent

The name European officials now circle back to is Victor Montagliani, the Canadian who chairs CONCACAF and sits as one of FIFA’s vice presidents. He has yet to publicly declare his hand. Asked in June whether he might run, he told The Globe and Mail, “I’ll let the future take care of itself.”

Montagliani did use his April FIFA Congress speech to draw a line between his own approach and the incumbent’s.

“Leadership is not about power. Leadership is about service. It’s about making decisions for the many, not the few.”

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney publicly praised him on 7 August as “a credit to Canada, credit to football.” Without a formal announcement from Montagliani himself, UEFA is a confederation demanding regime change with no candidate to name.

Read also: Storm clouds gather over Antonelli's lead as Zandvoort readies its F1 goodbye

Infantino stacks the numbers

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has endorsed Infantino for a fourth term. A tally published on 12 August listed at least 12 national associations publicly behind his re-election, among them Qatar, Argentina, Mexico, Morocco, Indonesia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Paraguay. Three more, Egypt, Niger and Mauritania, have expressed support without a formal endorsement.

A senior FIFA source told talkSPORT the incumbent “is supported by well over 200 associations around the world” and that “his efforts are appreciated by the overwhelming majority of world football.”

That framing comes from FIFA itself, not from a formal count. Each of the 211 member associations casts its own ballot on 18 March, and confederations do not control how their members vote. UEFA and CAF can lobby, recommend and pressure, but the two-thirds majority Infantino needs in the first round, or a simple majority after that, will be settled 211 ballots at a time.

The boycott holds, without a candidate

UEFA’s 55 associations voted at the end of July to boycott FIFA competitions if Infantino pursued his plan to sell commercial rights of the World Cup to a private investor consortium. He scrapped the plan. UEFA confirmed on 6 August that the boycott threat remained regardless, demanding a guarantee that the World Cup would never be commercialised in that way again. Senior FIFA adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned over the proposal.

Read also: Montagliani has 96 votes lined up. He needs 106 to beat Infantino

To turn that pressure into a vote, UEFA needs a name, five nominating associations and a filing before 18 November. Al-Khelaifi has said no. Montagliani has not said yes. The calendar, for now, is doing more work for Infantino than any endorsement.

Read also: The English FA's problem with Infantino is not just the next election