Gianni Infantino chairs the FIFA Council, the 37-strong body that steers world football between congresses. Since Tuesday, five of the eight vice-presidents who sit in that room with him are on record wanting him gone.
Csányi, president of the Hungarian Football Federation, sent his letter on 18 August. He told Infantino the trigger was inside FIFA’s own house.
“The final straw was the unexpected dismissal of Kevin Lamour.”
Lamour, FIFA’s chief operating officer, had spoken out against Infantino’s plan to create FIFA Forward Enterprise, a private-equity-financed company that would have held FIFA’s competition rights. His departure was announced on 17 August.
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“My conviction that you are capable of continuing to lead FIFA successfully and effectively in accordance with the shared values that previously formed the basis of our cooperation has been undermined.”
He added that Lamour’s exit “points to serious shortcomings in professional judgement, ethical standards and leadership”, and told Infantino he had “lost the confidence I previously placed in you”.
Five of eight vice-presidents now against him
Csányi joins UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa and English Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt on the list of vice-presidents publicly opposed to another Infantino term. Only three of the eight remain in his corner: those from CONMEBOL, CAF and OFC.
That count carries more weight than a headline tally of federations, because the vice-presidents sit at the very table where FIFA governance decisions between congresses are shaped.
Confederations do not deliver their members’ votes, however. FIFA’s 211 member associations each cast a single ballot at Congress, so a vice-president who leads UEFA or CONCACAF can lobby and criticise but cannot bind the federations under that umbrella.
The 23 September deadline, then a November congress
The immediate procedural pressure point is 23 September, the deadline to add items to the agenda of an extraordinary FIFA Congress scheduled for 23 November. UEFA has been examining whether it can push a no-confidence motion onto that agenda; the rules would require 43 member associations to sign on to force the question, and a simple majority of votes cast at Congress would then be needed to remove Infantino.
The calendar tightens further after that. Candidates for the next FIFA presidential election must declare by 18 November, with the vote itself scheduled for 18 March 2027 in Rabat.
Fifteen UEFA federations, including England, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Wales and Israel, have already withdrawn support for another Infantino term, joined by Jordan from the AFC, Guyana from CONCACAF and New Zealand from the OFC. Montenegro’s federation, led by Dejan Savićević, was among the most recent signatories.
“The recent developments within FIFA are extremely worrying and have shown a serious lack of communication and transparency,” Savićević said.
Infantino has not publicly responded to Csányi’s letter.
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