The mechanics are simple, the effect radical. UEFA and its allies want the FIFA presidency to rotate through the six continental confederations, in the same way multinational bodies like the European Union pass their top jobs around. A president by rotation cannot build a personal power base for a decade, and that is precisely the point.

The plan was pushed forward this week in Salzburg, where PSG beat Aston Villa in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday and the surrounding rooms filled with the game’s most senior administrators. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin held a series of meetings on the margins. The most closely watched attendee was Patrice Motsepe, the CAF president and FIFA vice-president whose confederation has been one of Infantino’s steadiest backers.

A chairman with vice-chairs, or no president at all

A second option under discussion goes further still. It would abolish the presidential title altogether and put a chairman in its place, supported by a bench of vice-chairs and a strengthened administrative apparatus. The direction is the same in both models: turn the office from a personal fief into something closer to a professional civil service.

Talks in Salzburg also covered an independent governance review of FIFA and a policy document mapping out the body’s future structure and principles.

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The $20bn plan that unraveled in three days

None of this came from nowhere. On 28 July, FIFA unveiled FIFA Forward Enterprise, a proposal to raise around $4.2bn by selling roughly a 20% stake in a new commercial subsidiary that would take over broadcast rights, sponsorship and ticketing for events including the men’s World Cup. The subsidiary was valued at $20bn.

The proposal survived three days. UEFA voted unanimously to threaten a boycott of FIFA competitions and called the plan “irresponsible and indefensible”, accusing FIFA of putting the sport’s “soul” up for sale. CONCACAF rejected the proposal and the AFC opposed it, calling for an urgent review of FIFA’s governance. Infantino pulled the plan on 31 July, the same day senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in protest and chief operating officer Kevin Lamour publicly branded it “the project of one person.”

Motsepe: go to the ballot box, not a coup

Motsepe’s presence in Salzburg carried weight because CAF had backed Infantino throughout. His message the same day, though, was strikingly cautious. Speaking to Al Jazeera, the CAF president said the FIFA president’s fate should be decided by the associations, not by pressure from confederation offices.

“If you want to take him out, go for elections; let the 211 member associations decide,” Motsepe said.

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“There’s a lot that’s problematic and negative that they have to fix. But he has apologised and said maybe there’s a different way these things should have been done.”

That framing matters. FIFA’s presidential vote is scheduled for March 2027, with candidate registration closing on 18 November. Confederations can lobby, criticize and recommend, but they do not deliver their members’ votes; each of FIFA’s 211 associations casts its own ballot.

43 votes to open the door, 106 to close it

The formal escalation route exists on paper. A no-confidence motion at FIFA requires backing from 43 associations, 20% of the congress, to be tabled. Removing the president would then need 106 votes out of 211. No such motion has been called.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the PSG president often floated as a possible challenger, took himself out of contention in Salzburg. He told reporters he was “very happy” in his current role at PSG. Names still in circulation for a future contest include CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani and AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa.

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UEFA and its allies have set out the outcome they will accept as a minimum: a change of both leadership and governance at FIFA. The March 2027 ballot is now the fixed date on the horizon.

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