UEFA has a new plan to push Gianni Infantino out as talks begin again about a FIFA boycott.
UEFA is planning talks soon about possibly boycotting the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup, with president Aleksander Ceferin said to be very interested in this idea.
Last week, UEFA warned they might boycott the men’s and women’s World Cups if FIFA president Gianni Infantino went ahead with his plan to sell parts of the World Cup to private investors. Infantino wanted to raise over $20 billion through a new company called FIFA Forward Enterprise. The main investor was expected to be Thrive Capital, owned by Joshua Kushner, who is the brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. This connection made the plan even more controversial.
After strong opposition from many in the football world and with no support from other continental bodies, FIFA announced on Saturday that the plan was dropped. Infantino’s position as FIFA president now seems to be in serious doubt. His top advisor, Carlos Cordeiro, quit on Friday, calling the plan a “bad deal for the game” and said he wasn’t consulted. FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour also said he felt “deceived” by Infantino.
Infantino wants to run for a fourth term as FIFA president in 2027, and earlier this month, The Guardian reported that over 200 of FIFA’s 211 member associations had backed him. But things have changed, with several groups, including the Wales and Sweden football associations, withdrawing their support on Monday. The English FA is also expected to pull their backing soon.
It now looks likely that Infantino will face at least one serious opponent when the election happens at the 77th FIFA Congress in Rabat, Morocco in March. According to talkSPORT, UEFA’s Ceferin plans to weaken Infantino even more by pushing for a boycott of the 2029 Club World Cup. This expanded men’s tournament first started in 2025, with 12 of the 32 clubs coming from UEFA. The first women’s Club World Cup, with 19 clubs, is set for January 2028.
Reports say Ceferin will meet face-to-face with European Football Clubs chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who also leads PSG, during the UEFA Super Cup final on August 12th. They’ll talk about a possible Club World Cup boycott. Al-Khelaifi, who became EFC chairman in 2021, helped stop the Super League plan a few years ago.
The EFC may not support the Club World Cup unless important details like funding and location are sorted out. Ceferin wants the EFC to say they won’t be part of the competition while Infantino is FIFA president.
One of the main challengers to Infantino seems to be Victor Montagliani, the president of CONCACAF. Montagliani, a Canadian and former head of Canada Soccer, helped organize this summer’s expanded 48-team World Cup. He’s reportedly making moves to challenge Infantino and is seen by some as a unifying candidate. It’s worth noting the last FIFA president not linked to UEFA was Joao Havelange from Brazil, who stepped down in 1998, which might help Montagliani’s case.
There’s still a lot of guesswork about who else might run. Al-Khelaifi might have support if he decides to go for FIFA president, but it’s unclear if he will. The same goes for Ceferin. AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, whose term ends in 2027, is another possible candidate. TalkSPORT also mentioned Dariusz Mioduski, owner of Poland’s Legia Warsaw, as a surprising choice being talked about by UEFA members.
So, the coming months could bring big changes in FIFA’s leadership and how football’s biggest tournaments are run!