August 27, 2026 | 06:27 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Europe's football governing body, UEFA, will push forwards on its attempt to remove Gianni Infantino from his post as FIFA president. This decision came as the organization moved to drop its threat to boycott FIFA tournaments, which was triggered by Infantino's since-withdrawn plan to sell FIFA stakes to private investors.
While the lifting of the boycott means European teams could compete at the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Poland next week, BBC Sport reported that UEFA is working to raise a unity candidate against Infantino to prevent his re-election in March.
ESPN also noted that UEFA earlier signaled its disinterest in backing Infantino's re-election by stating that it "had no confidence" in the Italian man's leadership.
Alongside the Asian Football Confederation and America's CONCACAF, UEFA penned an open letter earlier this month calling for "leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it."
The letter, signed by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, and CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani, said Infantino has broken trust "through deception," following his failed plan to establish the commercial subsidiary called Football Forward Enterprise (EFE).
Since then, multiple football organizations, including UEFA, have undertaken efforts to unite around a suitable candidate to replace Gianni Infantino. While no names have been identified, CONCACAF's Montagliani is believed to be among the contenders, according to The Guardian.
FIFA has set a November 18 deadline to submit the candidates for the presidential contest, four months prior to the vote in Rabat, Morocco. To be elected, 106 votes out of 211 member associations are required.
Meanwhile, it is understood that a vote of no confidence against Infantino was deemed unrealistic, as it would require three-quarters of the member associations—amounting to 159 votes—to pass the motion. UEFA has since abandoned this effort, according to BBC Sport.
Gianni Infantino had seemed sure that he had a clear, unobstructed path to re-election, that is, until his thwarted investor bid, which saw a growing list of federations dropping their support for him. The Italian and Romanian federations are the latest in the list, ESPN reported.
Pressures also pile on Infantino by current and former influential footballers. In a statement shared on social media, they called for a change at the top of FIFA. "Change is necessary. Power has blurred the current leadership’s ability to distinguish between its own interests and what is best for football. Recent events have made silence impossible. Enough is enough," part of the statement said, as quoted from The Guardian.
The group, which included former Manchester United and Arsenal defender Mikaël Silvestre, England defender Lucy Bronze, former England keeper David James and France 1998 World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit, called for efforts to "reshape the future" of football through "a structured change."
"A real, direct say for players and fans in how football is run. Those who step on to the pitch and those who sit in the stands deserve a genuine voice to help reshape football’s future together," the statement read.
The next FIFA presidential bid would see Infantino running for a fourth and final term in office through 2031.
Read: Reports: UEFA Backs off FIFA Boycott Threat
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