Claudius Schaefer’s language was harder than most of the criticism aimed at Gianni Infantino this summer. Speaking to The Athletic in an interview carried by wire agencies on Wednesday, the European Leagues chief said the FIFA president had lost the standing needed to lead reforms of world football’s governing body.

“We question his suitability to continue as president,” Schaefer told The Athletic. “Here in Switzerland, we’ve had a close view of FIFA, and it seems that the influence of the president has grown from year to year.”

The Swiss law argument

Schaefer framed his case in legal terms, a reminder that FIFA is an association registered under Swiss law. He said the decision to award FIFA’s inaugural peace prize to United States President Donald Trump last December, taken without informing the FIFA Council, went beyond a political misjudgement.

“If you take such a decision without even informing the council, that, in my view, is a breach of law,” he said.

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He was equally scathing about the mid-tournament intervention that saw the World Cup ban of United States forward Folarin Balogun overturned after a call from Trump.

“It was a real scandal. I can’t ever recall a political intervention of this kind relating to a sporting matter. Such acts call the integrity of the game into question,” Schaefer said. “That’s why there is no future at FIFA for Infantino. There can’t be.”

UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF turn on Infantino

Schaefer’s verdict lands as the political map inside FIFA fractures along familiar lines. UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF have all spoken out publicly and are weighing a joint no-confidence move against Infantino, Al Jazeera reported on 20 August. A senior figure told Reuters, quoted anonymously, described the choice for the FIFA president bluntly: “Either he goes the peaceful way and decides not to stand in March or he goes the hard way.”

UEFA has already committed publicly to offering members a rival candidate. In its formal position, the European body said that if Infantino runs again it will “join forces with its partner confederations to ensure that Member Associations are offered a credible alternative, one committed to integrity, accountability, development and genuine institutional change.”

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The other two continental blocs are pulling the other way. The Confederation of African Football unanimously restated its support for Infantino on 7 August, with president Patrice Motsepe calling him “loyal to Africa”. CONMEBOL has also stayed close, welcoming FIFA’s climbdown on its abandoned World Cup commercial plan without naming Infantino as the problem.

Confederations do not control how their member associations vote. Each of FIFA’s 211 members casts its own ballot at the presidential election, and the public alignments this month reflect lobbying weight rather than fixed voting blocs.

The November nomination deadline

To force an extraordinary congress and any no-confidence motion, one-fifth of FIFA’s members, about 43 associations, must submit a written request. FIFA is then obliged to convene within three months. That means any such meeting called after early September would clash with the election calendar itself.

The nomination deadline for the 2027 election is 18 November 2026. The vote will be held on 18 March 2027 in Rabat. Infantino, in office since 2016, is seeking a fourth term and has yet to face a declared challenger; CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani is the name most often floated in the opposition camp, but he has not put his name forward.

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