Infantino faces fresh presidency scandal as new complaint threatens FIFA election

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FT Desk

Gianni Infantino faces a new threat towards his FIFA presidency after an advocacy group questioned his eligibility for the next election.

The FIFA President is under major scrutiny at the moment following a series of controversies, including his increasingly polarising relationship with United States President Donald Trump and the failure of his FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal that would have seen private equity firms gain shares in the World Cup.

Several continental football governing bodies like UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF are campaigning for his removal, with candidates now being shortlisted to run against him in next year's election.

At the moment, he is the only candidate who has announced participation.

However, he won't participate at all if advocacy group FairSquare get their way. The non-profit organisation, which aims for “better, more democratic governance to prevent sporting institutions contributing to harm and suffering”, has lodged a new complaint with FIFA relating to Infantino.

In December, FairSquare made an official complaint to FIFA’s Ethics Committee due to Infantino's relationship with Trump, alleging "repeated breaches" of FIFA's code to remain politically neutral. At the World Cup draw that same month, Infantino had awarded Trump the inaugural 'FIFA Peace Prize'.

The new complaint alleged that Infantino is not eligible to stand as a candidate in the next election. FIFA presidents are limited to three terms in office and he is in his third at the moment.

However, in 2022, he stated that his first term didn't count as he was appointed to replace Sepp Blatter in the middle of a term due to a FIFA corruption scandal.

FairSquare sent a letter to FIFA on 13 August outlining its concerns.

It reads in part, as reported by The Athletic:

“We are writing to request that you‬ rule Mr. Infantino ineligible to run again for the FIFA Presidency on the basis that he is already serving‬ his third and final term. A previous decision of the Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee to‬ discount his first term clearly violates the letter and purpose of the FIFA statutory provision on presidential term limits.‬”

The letter says a fourth term for Infantino “appears to have been‬ enabled on the basis of a decision or opinion issued by the Governance, Audit and Compliance‬ Committee in 2022.”

It continues: “On 16 December 2022, the FIFA Council held a‬ meeting in Doha, Qatar, after which FIFA published a‬‭ press release‬‭ which referred to this decision:‬ ‘The FIFA Council also unanimously confirmed its agreement with the view of the Governance, Audit‬ & Compliance Committee that the period between 2016 and 2019 does not count as a term of office‬ for the current FIFA President, who is therefore about to end his first term.’”

However, FairSquare argues that FIFA has provided insufficient information on the issue, noting that a report from the Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee submitted to the FIFA Council has never been published. The organisation maintains that, because Infantino was elected at an 'Extraordinary Congress' in 2016, FIFA’s statutes should be interpreted to mean that he will have completed three presidential terms by next year.

FairSquare’s letter states that neither the FIFA Statutes nor the FIFA Governance Regulations allow a presidential term to be disregarded simply because it lasted less than the maximum four-year period. It points to the statutes’ provision that “no person may serve as President for more than three terms of office”, arguing that the rule makes no distinction between full and partial terms, nor between elections held at 'Ordinary' or 'Extraordinary Congresses'.

On that basis, FairSquare contends that the wording of FIFA’s rules is unambiguous and contains no exception that would allow an incomplete term, or a term beginning at an 'Extraordinary Congress', to be excluded from the three-term limit.

FairSquare argues that “an interpretation that would discount the first three years of office would also run contrary to the spirit‬ and purpose of the rule.”

The letter also raises concerns that a FIFA president could exploit their position on the FIFA Council to bring forward an election before completing a full term. FairSquare argues that this could, in theory, allow a president to repeatedly seek re-election and “remain in power indefinitely”.

It adds that such a scenario cannot be dismissed given what it describes as Infantino’s “various abuses of power” and the FIFA Council’s failure to hold him accountable.