Gianni Infantino appears likely to be re-elected as Fifa president with nomination deadline looming
As of 9 October 2026, Gianni Infantino looks set to be re-elected as Fifa president at the Fifa Congress in Rabat on 18 March, with 40 days remaining until the 18 November deadline for presidential nominations. Senior figures in world football now believe he may face no opponent on the ballot.
Infantino’s position weakened earlier this year after details emerged of the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal to sell World Cup commercial rights, a controversy that made him appear vulnerable. He was first elected Fifa president in 2016 and, despite the FFE fallout, has retained significant backing outside Europe. There is a clear split among Fifa’s confederations: Uefa, Concacaf and Asia have been critical, while Africa, South America and Oceania have given him support.
Since summoning the Fifa management board to Rabat on 5 August to discuss FFE, Infantino has maintained a high profile overseas as he seeks to consolidate backing. His recent itinerary included attending the inauguration of Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella; visiting a Fifa-funded youth tournament in the Dominican Republic; watching the Fifa Asean Cup final in Jakarta; and speaking at an African football conference in Cape Verde.
At the Cape Verde conference Infantino told assembled delegates: "We have invested $1bn in 10 years in Africa." For the third time this year the 54 African nations — described in reports as carrying more than a quarter of the votes — pledged their unconditional support, a factor the article says has translated into both votes and loyalty.
Uefa has sought an alternative candidate, arguing it wants a president who is "a respected and unifying figure, deeply rooted in football" with "an unequivocal commitment to development, reform, integrity and independence". Victor Montagliani, once considered the most credible challenger, has not publicly expressed an interest and has told staff he intends to stand for re-election with Concacaf; only Ramon Vega has formally declared his candidacy, but the report says he is unlikely to obtain the required five letters from Fifa’s 211 member associations.
After rescinding a threat to boycott Fifa competitions, Uefa lodged claims in three US courts seeking documents related to FFE and stated that if those papers contained incriminating material it would pursue "criminal mismanagement" through the Swiss courts. The piece notes that exchanges so far have been tit-for-tat and that legal action looks set to continue even if there is no ballot contest.
Infantino is due to meet his critics at a Fifa Council meeting in Zurich next Thursday, where discussion will cover FFE, the Fifa Peace Prize awarded to Donald Trump, and the US President’s subsequent intervention in Folarin Balogun’s red card at the World Cup. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin, who confirmed he will stand for a fourth term as Uefa president, is expected to attend in person along with the other eight European representatives, including Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt.
Uefa has also called for changes to Fifa governance and for each country to be paid an additional $10m from Fifa’s reserves of around $6bn. Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the president of the Asian confederation and a Fifa vice-president who sits on the Council, sent a letter distancing himself from a "wholesale redesign of Fifa's governance system" and writing that change should be "driven by the football institutions themselves, rather than being outsourced to an external party."
The nomination window closes on 18 November and the presidential vote is scheduled to take place at the Fifa Congress in Rabat on 18 March.
