Senior officials want to abolish FIFA presidency as pressure on Infantino mounts

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Senior football leaders want to do away with the FIFA presidency as a response to Gianni Infantino's consolidation of power.

The incumbent is under growing pressure to resign after his plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors was revealed by The Times, sparking massive pushback from supporters and key stakeholders in the sport.

Infantino and his plan, revealed without consultation with the various confederations within FIFA, were widely condemned. This forced the 56-year-old to backtrack and scrap the plan, but the damage has been done.

UEFA, long a thorn in FIFA's side, has seized the initiative and is now looking to dethrone Infantino. President Aleksander Ceferin has called on all European nations that previously supported the FIFA supremo to publicly renounce their backing.

In late April, Infantino announced that he would stand for re-election at next year's presidential vote, but there is now significant pressure from UEFA and even senior figures within FIFA for him to quit immediately.

Football chiefs want to abolish FIFA presidency

Earlier this summer, reports emerged that UEFA was mulling over putting forward a challenger to Infantino next year, but the implosion of the 56-year-old's so-called "FIFA Forward Enterprise" plan may have made this a moot point.

According to talkSPORT, Ceferin is set to meet with European Football Clubs chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi at the UEFA Super Cup on 12 August to coordinate the next steps in the fight against Infantino, including a potential boycott of the 2029 Club World Cup.

Ideally, though, Ceferin and UEFA don't want it to have to come to this and would prefer Infantino to resign before 12 August. Those close to the FIFA president, however, insist that he is not the type to back down and quit.

"Key foundational elements" of the 2029 Club World Cup, such as location and funding, have not yet been decided, and there is currently no agreement with the EFC for the tournament, giving Al-Khelaifi and company significant leverage.

Moreover, several clubs have yet to receive their solidarity payments for the 2025 edition, which could further stack the deck against Infantino in his battle for survival.

However, should Infantino fight on until next year's election, UEFA and the other rebellious confederations will face the problem of finding a suitable candidate capable of garnering enough votes to oust the all-powerful president.

Infantino still retains the backing of many federations, having efficiently used FIFA funding to strengthen his position in smaller and developing football nations. Many governing bodies in Africa and Asia are believed to remain supportive of the incumbent.

CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani is among the favourites to run against Infantino next year, while neither Ceferin nor Al-Khelaifi have any interest in standing for election, despite broad support from within UEFA for the latter.

Interestingly, the report adds that several senior figures within football want to do away with the position of FIFA president altogether should Infantino be deposed.

They argue that FIFA ought to be led by an elected chairman with a group of vice-chairs who all report to the FIFA Council. This is clearly a response to Infantino's consolidation of power and increasingly unilateral decision-making with seemingly no accountability.

Such a proposal, if formalised, could also convince Al-Khelaifi to come forward as a challenger to Infantino and garner the support of confederations that are currently on the fence.

There are a lot of moving parts at this stage, but one thing is clear: Infantino's position looks increasingly untenable.