Pressure is mounting on FIFA president Gianni Infantino despite his decision to withdraw plans to sell a stake in the commercial rights to the World Cup, with UEFA reportedly preparing further action aimed at ending his tenure.
The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday that UEFA had issued Infantino with an ultimatum: resign or face an attempt by FIFA’s member associations to hold a no-confidence vote against him.
The proposed challenge would rely on Article 25 of the FIFA Statutes. Under that provision, the FIFA Council must call an extraordinary congress if at least one-fifth of FIFA’s member associations submit a written request.
With 211 associations belonging to FIFA, the threshold is 43 written requests.
UEFA has 55 member associations, meaning it would have enough on its own to meet the requirement if all of them supported such a move. According to French newspaper L’Equipe, any extraordinary congress would have to take place within three months of the request being received.
If the congress is convened, all 211 FIFA member associations would be entitled to take part in the vote. Removing the FIFA president would require a simple majority of valid votes – at least 106.
The Telegraph reported that 143 national associations had already opposed Infantino’s proposal to sell a share of the World Cup’s commercial rights. That figure includes all 55 UEFA members, 47 associations from the Asian Football Confederation and 41 from CONCACAF.
However, opposition to the commercial-rights plan would not automatically mean that all 143 associations would vote to remove Infantino if the issue reached a formal ballot.
UEFA has previously said that it no longer has confidence in Infantino. The European governing body now appears determined to maintain pressure on the FIFA president, even after he withdrew the controversial proposal.
Infantino’s plan had prompted criticism from a broad group of FIFA’s member associations. The decision to abandon it has therefore failed to end the dispute surrounding his leadership, with the possibility of a no-confidence process now forming the centre of the latest challenge.
For UEFA to force an extraordinary congress, it would need to secure the required written request from at least 43 FIFA members. If that process succeeds, the ensuing vote would be open to the entire FIFA membership rather than being decided by UEFA alone.
The reported warning marks an escalation in the disagreement between UEFA and Infantino. It also means the future of the FIFA president could become the subject of a vote involving every national association in the organisation, provided the procedural threshold is met.
