Weakened at the head of Fifa, Gianni Infantino “has a good chance of making it through the summer”

Gianni Infantino more threatened than ever at the head of Fifa. While he seemed untouchable after the “historic success” of the 2026 World Cup, in his words, the boss of international football has been in the middle of a storm for two weeks after trying to open the body he heads to private investors. A project quickly aborted after firm opposition from three confederations, the powerful European UEFA in the lead. Since then, the anger has not subsided and is gradually transforming into a firm challenge to the current number 1 in world football.

The European, North American and Asian authorities are still up in arms against Gianni Infantino: they notably recalled that football “does not belong to any individual”, in an open letter made public on Monday. “There is silence where there should be responsibilities, distance where there should be transparency. These are not the qualities that football deserves to find in its leadership,” the three confederations also attacked.

Also (re)readOpening of Fifa to private investors: the project that is fracturing world football

However, the president of Fifa “has a good chance of spending the summer, unless the situation worsens with the UEFA-Concacaf-AFC common front”, estimates Kévin Veyssière, founder of the media FC Geopolitics. According to him, Gianni Infantino benefits from support despite his current fragility: “He managed to have the support of the African (CAF) and South American (Conmebol) confederations, we also see that Mexico has dissociated itself from Concacaf, and finally the number 2 of Fifa – Mattias Grafström, who had initially criticized him internally – finally lined up behind him.”

Without forgetting the strong support of American President Donald Trump, who estimated that “FIFA would make a terrible mistake if, for whatever reason, it considered even for a moment replacing its president Gianni Infantino”. So much for the current balance of power, as the next election for the president of world football is due to take place on March 18, 2027.

Infantino “weakened” and European boycott of Fifa competitions

“Gianni Infantino is weakened, but he is trying to calm down before starting the sequence of his re-election,” analyzes Kévin Veyssière. Silent during the first turbulence after the leak to the press of his controversial project, the president of Fifa has resumed in recent days a visible activity as leader of the world football body. Present in Morocco for a crisis meeting, he took the opportunity, Wednesday August 5, to visit the stands of the Al Medina stadium in Rabat during the women’s CAN match between Malawi and Zambia. Two days later, he was in Colombia – welcomed by Alejandro Dominguez, the president of Conmebol – to attend the inauguration of the new far-right president Abelardo de la Espriella.

Two trips to countries which support the current president of Fifa, whose resignation seems unlikely for the moment, according to the newspaper L’Équipe. The sports daily affirms that the pressure exerted by the three confederations opposed to Gianni Infantino would above all aim to “result in a withdrawal of (his) candidacy” in the next election at the head of the body. Especially since the weight of the UEFA-Concacaf-AFC trio weighs heavily in the ballot, the three confederations bringing together approximately two thirds (136) of the 211 member associations of Fifa.

And since one member association equals one vote in the election, a joint action by the trio, such as a dissident candidacy, would go a long way toward hindering Gianni Infantino’s re-election. A hard blow for a president who still seemed untouchable at the end of the last World Cup. “Gianni Infantino sinned through pride with his project to open Fifa to private investment, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” explains Kévin Veyssière, who recalls that he nevertheless came out of a World Cup “generally successful in terms of audience, stadium filling, spectacle and especially in economic terms – with a record amount of 15 billion dollars.”

Also read“Football does not belong to investors”: outcry after Fifa’s latest project

This heatwave in world football still seems to be in its early stages, and few names are coming out of the hat to compete with Gianni Infantino in the next election – even if the name of Canadian Victor Montagliani, vice-president of Fifa for ten years, often comes up among the potential candidates, according to L’Équipe. The boss of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, is playing a dirty game: while he has officially firmly ruled out running for the presidency of Fifa, his behavior in recent weeks seems to demonstrate the opposite. Unless he wants to support someone close to him for this position – in this case Nasser al-Khelaïfi, president of PSG.

Until this election, the “anti-Infantino front” still has options to increase the pressure, starting with the boycott of competitions organized under the aegis of the world body. UEFA has threatened to resort to this process several times in recent weeks. If the words were to be followed by effects, the first victim of this standoff could be the U20 Women’s World Cup, which is to take place in September in Poland. The competition would be played without the European nations.

But there is still a path where tension could fall in the coming weeks, particularly if the threat of boycott is ultimately not implemented. The president of Fifa will then still be able to envisage a future in world football, as Kévin Veyssière concludes: “If it remains with the letter of intent, Gianni Infantino will be able to prepare for his re-election quietly and try to convince again the federations who were disappointed by his behavior during this summer sequence.”