European officials confident they can find a challenger to Gianni Infantino ahead of Fifa vote

European football leaders said on 15 October 2026 they were increasingly confident they would find a candidate to stand against Fifa president Gianni Infantino in next year’s presidential election, a view expressed ahead of Thursday’s Fifa council meeting. One European football association head told the Guardian they were "positive" that Infantino will face an opponent in March.

Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation have made clear they will oppose Infantino’s re-election bid in the wake of the World Cup sell-off scandal, but those confederations have so far been unable to coalesce around a credible nominee before the 18 November deadline for nominations to be submitted to Fifa. The presidents of those continental bodies — Aleksander Ceferin, Victor Montagliani and Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa — have ruled themselves out of standing. Suggestions that figures such as Arsène Wenger or Michele Kang could run have been dismissed, and the former Portugal international Luis Figo has also been mentioned, while being regarded as a potential Uefa president when Ceferin’s final term finishes in 2031.

Sources involved with the anti-Infantino lobby said they are making progress toward finding a challenger and indicated any prospective candidate would delay a public declaration until close to the nomination deadline to limit the time available for Fifa to attempt to block the bid. Those sources said the rebels believe the Fifa machine is being commandeered to support Infantino’s re-election campaign.

Infantino is set to face questioning from members of the 37-strong Fifa council on several issues, including the abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise plan, the Fifa peace prize and the Folarin Balogun affair, when Fifa’s disciplinary committee overturned the US striker’s suspension during the World Cup. The disciplinary committee’s decision followed an intervention from Donald Trump, the recipient for the inaugural Fifa peace prize.

In response to anticipated criticism of the disciplinary committee’s handling of the Balogun case, Infantino has proposed an amendment that would remove the disciplinary committee’s option to revoke one-match bans received for players shown a straight red card. Infantino has pledged to present a full report on FFE on Thursday, although in a break from usual practice that report has not been shared with members in advance.

Sources said any challenger is expected to wait until close to the 18 November nomination deadline to declare publicly, with the Fifa presidential election scheduled for March, when Infantino is seeking re-election.