UEFA details qualities of candidate it wants to challenge Infantino

BERLIN (AP) :

European football body UEFA has detailed the kind of FIFA president it wants to replace Gianni Infantino — “a respected and unifying figure, deeply rooted in football”.

A candidate that “represents FIFA globally and provides leadership without exercising management functions”, UEFA said yesterday after a meeting of its 55 member federations that shaped a strategy to find an opponent for Infantino before a November 18 deadline.

Exactly who that candidate could be was not discussed, though it will not be UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and potentially also not be European in the search for global votes among 211 FIFA member federations.

Ceferin did use the meeting to confirm he will stand for re-election for a fourth and final term. The decision was expected despite Ceferin saying in 2024 he would not be a candidate at the next election, which is scheduled for April 22 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Slovenian lawyer Ceferin has led global efforts by football officials since July to oust Infantino from his increasingly executive-style presidency before or at the FIFA election next March 18 in Rabat, Morocco.

Infantino’s secretive and quickly defeated plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors pushed UEFA’s long-held unease with FIFA projects and governance toward running a rival against him.

“FIFA also needs new leadership: a respected and unifying figure, deeply rooted in football, with the vision and experience to lead, the ability to command confidence across regions, and an unequivocal commitment to development, reform, integrity and independence,” UEFA said in a statement after the day-long meeting in Berlin.

UEFA repeated an earlier promise that all of FIFA’s members should get a one-off $10 million dividend from the governing body’s reserves. FIFA’s cash reserves stand at close to US$6 billion after a lucrative men’s World Cup held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Ceferin and global football leaders will meet Infantino next week in Zurich for the first meeting of the 37-member FIFA Council since the World Cup private equity plan was revealed.

Addressing doubts about the integrity of some World Cup decisions by FIFA, the UEFA slate of future changes urged that “appointments and work of FIFA’s oversight bodies are protected from presidential or executive interference”.

FIFA’s handling of World Cup red card or player eligibility cases for Cristiano Ronaldo, United States forward Folarin Balogun and Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi has provoked global concern.

Questions about Infantino intervening in field-of-play issues date to FIFA inserting Lionel Messi’s team Inter Miami into the 2025 Club World Cup when they were not the Major League Soccer champions, and after no clear consultation or process to make the decision.

UEFA said its reforms slate for FIFA was backed by all of its members except Azerbaijan, which has pledged its vote to Infantino. One of Infantino’s key aides in his globetrotting election campaign is from Azerbaijan.

In a pointed suggestion, UEFA’s list of possible reforms included: “No FIFA resources may be used for personal or electoral interests.”

“I’m not convinced personally that a credible reform process can be achieved under the current FIFA leadership,” FIFA Council member Bernd Neuendorf, the German football president, told reporters.

INFANTINO IN AFRICA

While UEFA was deciding its strategy against Infantino, its former long-time employee was in Cape Verde getting a standing ovation at a meeting of the 54 FIFA member federations from Africa.

The applause was urged by FIFA vice-resident Patrice Motsepe to members of the Confederation of African Football he leads.

Infantino had minutes earlier reminded his voters of investments FIFA made for African football since he was elected in February 2016.

“With the FIFA Forward programme we have invested, in 10 years, one billion US dollars in Africa, 500 million in the last four years. One hundred and 24 different projects and many other actions,” Infantino said. “We need to continue, of course together, on this path.”