The FIFA statutes were not written with a no-confidence vote in mind. That is the awkward problem now facing the three regional bodies reportedly discussing how to move against Gianni Infantino.

Three of FIFA’s six confederations, UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF, are in talks about an unprecedented no-confidence motion after Infantino’s plan to sell up to 20 per cent of a new FIFA commercial entity, valued around $20bn, collapsed within 72 hours of being unveiled in late July, according to Reuters reporting carried by The Globe and Mail.

“There is no way out. Either he goes the peaceful way and decides not to stand in March or he goes the hard way,” a senior figure close to the matter told Reuters.

The 43-federation threshold

FIFA’s statutes contain no specific provision for removing a sitting president mid-term. What they do allow is an Extraordinary Congress: if at least one-fifth of FIFA’s 211 member associations, roughly 43 federations, submit a written request setting out the agenda items, the Council must convene one within three months. Each association casts a single vote.

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That is a considerable ask. Confederations do not control how their member associations vote; each of the 211 members casts its own ballot, and the African confederation CAF has publicly backed Infantino. Wales and Finland have withdrawn their support, but Mexico and several Arab federations remain in Infantino’s column.

The failed-vote trap

Even if the opposition gathers the signatures, senior figures inside the discussions fear a loss would be worse than not moving at all. An unsuccessful challenge would demonstrate that Infantino still commands a majority of member associations only weeks before the nomination deadline of 18 November, and it would carry him into the March 2027 election with the appearance of a fresh mandate.

That paradox is why the electoral math cuts both ways, according to Michael Payne, a former International Olympic Committee marketing director.

“It’s all very well to sneak through with a 51 per cent majority with many of the tiny nations but all of the football superpowers against you. How do you run the organisation?” Payne told Reuters.

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The opposition also has to reckon with the arithmetic of small federations, who have received tangible benefits from Infantino’s presidency.

Fleetwood Haiya, president of the Football Association of Malawi, told Reuters the challengers had yet to make their case to smaller nations.

“They should tell us what they are going to bring to Malawi,” Haiya said.

Erosion inside FIFA House

The political ground under Infantino has moved quickly this month. On 19 August, FIFA’s fifth vice-president Sándor Csányi publicly withdrew his support for the president, describing the departure of chief operating officer Kevin Lamour as the “final straw”. Lamour had left after telling colleagues staff were “deceived” over what he called “the project of one person”.

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UEFA has since called for a “thorough and fundamental” governance review, saying “no option should be off the table”. European Football Clubs, the body that represents hundreds of clubs on the continent, has warned members could refuse to take part in future Club World Cups if governance concerns are not addressed.

No challenger has publicly emerged before the November nomination deadline. Infantino still intends to stand for a fourth term in March.

FIFA has said it “will not support, facilitate or tolerate any process concerning the election of the FIFA president that is inconsistent with FIFA’s Statutes”.

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