The growing expectation among critics is that Gianni Infantino may yet choose to step aside before the pressure becomes impossible to resist: abandon the controversial proposals and announce his departure as FIFA president. Those who know the combative Swiss football executive, however, suspect he will fight to hold on to office for as long as he can.
Opposition is no longer focused solely on his plan to secure £3.1billion in private investment. Increasingly, it appears to be turning against Infantino’s leadership itself. Nations within Concacaf are understood to be wavering in their support, with some said to have already lost confidence in the FIFA president.
FIFA has 211 member associations, so any change to its statutes requires 106 votes either to pass or to be blocked. With 135 countries now expressing opposition to Infantino’s proposals, the arithmetic is stark: at present, he does not appear to have the support he needs.
If Infantino continues with the plans — or drops them while attempting to remain the dominant figure at FIFA — dissatisfied member nations could move to call an emergency FIFA congress and push for a vote of no confidence. The threshold to trigger such a process is relatively low, requiring only 20 per cent of FIFA’s membership. That means backing from UEFA’s members alone, or from Concacaf’s 46 FIFA-registered associations, would be enough.
Sources have indicated that Norway has raised the possibility of an emergency congress, while UEFA nations are understood to be keeping every option under consideration.
Should no emergency congress be called, the next formal opportunity to remove Infantino would come at the election in March. He is expected to seek a fourth term as FIFA president, although his prospects now look far less secure than they once did.
So far, no rival candidate has come forward to challenge him. The African, South American and Asian confederations have publicly supported his re-election campaign, which would, on paper, provide the 106 votes he requires. Yet the Asian confederation has since opposed his proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup, exposing a split that could prove decisive.
