Opposition to Gianni Infantino has rarely been louder, or rarely mattered less.
Three of football’s six confederations have broken with the FIFA president over the past year, most pointedly over a now-abandoned plan to spin off FIFA’s commercial rights into a private subsidiary. Yet with the nomination window closing in less than six weeks, no established figure has stepped forward to challenge him.
The latest to pull back is Victor Montagliani. The 61-year-old Canadian, who is both CONCACAF president and a FIFA vice-president, informed colleagues this week that he will seek a third term running CONCACAF rather than take on Infantino in Morocco. His decision, reported on Thursday, strips Europe’s search committee of what was widely seen as the strongest potential consensus candidate.
Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the Paris Saint-Germain president and chair of the European Football Clubs, had already ruled himself out in late July. His representatives told Politico that the Qatari executive had “absolutely no ambition, no intention, no interest in the FIFA role.”
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UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin confirmed this week that he will seek a fourth UEFA term, ending speculation that he might make a late run at the FIFA job himself.
CAF’s 54 declare for Infantino
While Europe searched, Africa moved.
At the CAF Strategy Conference in Santa Maria, Cape Verde, on 8 October, CAF president Patrice Motsepe announced that all 54 of the continent’s associations would back Infantino’s re-election.
“Thank you, Gianni Infantino, for all you do for African football,” Motsepe said.
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Confederations do not control how their members vote (each of FIFA’s 211 associations casts its own ballot), but a public endorsement of that scale is difficult to unwind. CONMEBOL’s ten South American federations publicly committed to Infantino earlier in the year, and parts of Asia, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, remain in his column.
A candidate needs a simple majority of 211 ballots to win on the first round, 106 votes. Infantino’s publicly declared base in Africa and South America alone, before UEFA’s 55 federations even cast a vote, puts him within reach of the line.
UEFA’s fight is in a courtroom, not on a ballot
UEFA has not softened. The confederation voted unanimously to boycott any FIFA competition using the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise commercial structure, the plan Infantino scrapped after the backlash. European officials are also pursuing litigation.
UEFA filed an urgent application in a US federal court seeking testimony and documents from FIFA entities in Florida, and is weighing criminal proceedings against Infantino in Switzerland. FIFA has accused the confederation of running a “smear campaign.”
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That is a procedural fight. It is not an electoral one.
Vega is the only name in the field
The one declared challenger is Ramon Vega, the former Tottenham defender. Several reports say he intends to stand, but he must first secure formal nominations from at least five FIFA member associations before the 11:59pm CET deadline on 18 November. None have declared for him publicly.
Infantino, meanwhile, has avoided the subject in person. Asked at the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Poland about his future, he told Sky News: “There will be a lot to say, but there will be a right place and a right time to say this. It’s not today, it’s not here.”
A FIFA spokesperson was more direct.
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“The FIFA president announced in April that he will stand for re-election in 2027. Of course, nothing has changed. Mr Infantino will be standing for re-election.”
Unless five associations put Vega’s name forward in the next 40 days, Infantino will travel to Rabat on 18 March 2027 as the only candidate on the ballot.
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