Aug 24 (Reuters) – FIFA President Gianni Infantino laid out his manifesto for reelection as the champion of poorer soccer nations on Sunday as UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin ruled out running against him but said he thought there would be an opposition candidate.
Almost a month after Infantino tabled his now abandoned proposal to create a commercial body for FIFA tournament rights and sell off 20% to private investors, the battle for the future of global governance of the world’s most popular sport rages on.
European governing body UEFA, backed by the regional blocs for Asia (AFC) and North and Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), has led the opposition and Ceferin suggested that Infantino should stand down.
“There are two options,” he told “The Rest Is Politics: Leading” podcast.
“One option is that he realises that he doesn’t have the support, and that’s not only a political support of the ones who vote, but the political support of football community, the political support of fans, the political support of the players, former players, coaches.
“And the second option that he goes to the elections in March, but in that case, I think he will have a candidate against him. I don’t know yet who.”
Reuters has contacted FIFA for comment on Ceferin’s criticism of Infantino and the sport’s global governing body.
Sources familiar with the process told Reuters last week that UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF were considering a third option — a vote of no confidence in Infantino ahead of the ballot in March next year.
Slovenian Ceferin, who said he had had no contact with Infantino since the controversy erupted, thought his lack of interest in succeeding the Swiss administrator increased his credibility.
OPPOSITION FROM EUROPE’S SMALLER NATIONS
Ceferin said the proposal was a greater threat to the sport than the European Super League plan that UEFA successfully fought in 2021, and said opposition was not just from Europe’s bigger nations.
“On one side was England, Germany, who you understand don’t want that, because this money is not so big for them. But on the other side was San Marino, Cyprus, Liechtenstein … They said: we’re not for sale,” he added.
Infantino has shown no signs of walking away from the position he has held since 2016 and made it clear that he was banking on his appeal to the less well-off national associations to win reelection until 2031.
In a video interview released by FIFA after he met with members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in the Dominican Republic at the weekend, Infantino said it was FIFA’s job to close the gap between wealthy and poorer associations.
“We want to grow football in every one of our 211 countries in the world,” he said.
“We need to find investments for all the others — opportunities for all the others. This is about, indeed, finding and giving opportunities, access, and resources to world football.
“Some, unfortunately, don’t need and they don’t want that others grow, but we need to narrow this gap between the big, big countries and all the others.
“That’s what we have been trying to do in the last 10 years and also in the last 10 weeks, and what we will be continuing to do in the next years.”
Infantino, who has support from the African and South American regional blocs, has looked to sideline the confederations and appeal directly to individual members throughout the crisis.
INFANTINO SAYS WELL RECEIVED IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
CFU forms part of CONCACAF and Infantino said he had been very happy with how he had been received on the sidelines of an under-14 tournament in the Dominican Republic.
CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani had asked Infantino to stay away from the tournament, saying his presence would overshadow the football.
Infantino said the tournament, which was funded by FIFA development money, was an example of the sort of work the governing body had done under his stewardship.
Also on Sunday, six Nordic FIFA members — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Faroe Islands — met in Helsinki and issued a joint statement backing calls for Infantino’s resignation.
In his podcast interview, Ceferin rejected allegations that Europe was obstructing efforts to help poorer football nations and took aim at what he described as attempts to portray UEFA as an entitled elite.
“What I hear is that they play on, you know, arrogant Europe is against us,” he said. “But I think someone should remind him (Infantino) that he is a European, and that he was supported by UEFA, which he forgot.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, Lori Ewing in Manchester;Editing by Toby Davis, Peter Rutherford)
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