South African journalist Peter Auf der Heyde launches challenge to Gianni Infantino for Fifa presidency

Former Soccer News editor Peter Auf der Heyde has formally entered the race to oppose Gianni Infantino in next year’s Fifa presidential election, saying global football needs greater accountability and transparency.

The 65-year-old South African is seeking a salary of $1 (R16.50) a year if elected.

Infantino is seeking a fourth term at the election in Morocco in March next year. Auf der Heyde joins Kozo Tashima, honorary president of the Japan Football Association, and former Tottenham Hotspur and Switzerland defender Ramon Vega as declared challengers. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is also reported to be considering a bid.

Auf der Heyde told TimesLIVE via WhatsApp that he entered the contest because “something needed to be done” about Fifa and the state of the international game.

“The idea started formulating around the World Cup when I thought about all the countries that will never have a chance of competing on the global stage,” he said.

“That then developed into the idea of an Emerging Nations World Cup. I then looked at ways to get the idea to the right people.”

Auf der Heyde has worked in football as a player, administrator, club owner, club manager and journalist. He said he had hoped the sport would improve after Sepp Blatter left the Fifa presidency, but believed it had not done so under Infantino.

“I felt instead of just complaining and criticising, something needed to be done,” he said.

“You can’t have an election if you don’t have two candidates. Then it’s not an election.”

Infantino has faced criticism from Uefa and Concacaf over an abandoned proposal that included selling minority stakes in the Fifa World Cup to private investors. The AFC was initially critical but has since joined Caf and Conmebol in varying degrees of support for Infantino.

Infantino also faced controversy over decisions connected with the 2026 Fifa World Cup in North America in June and July, including the presentation of an inaugural Fifa Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump.

Auf der Heyde said Infantino should answer questions about the prize, his $6m salary and the proposed World Cup sale.

“To officially challenge Infantino, I would need five federations to nominate me,” he said. “I’m not even asking countries to vote for me; I’m asking countries to nominate me.”

He said he had written to all 211 associations and had received a response from the Jamaican Football Association, which said it was treating his proposal seriously and requested further information.

“Even if that candidate does not stand much chance of winning, I think it’s important a candidate is standing against Infantino to ask him difficult questions,” he said.

Auf der Heyde, who lectures in journalism at Southampton Solent University, was sports editor of Deutsche Presse-Agentur in Germany. He graduated from Rhodes University in Makhanda, formerly Grahamstown, where he helped establish and became president of the Grahamstown Soccer Association.

He is best known in South Africa for editing Soccer News, which competed successfully with Kickoff during the 1990s and 2000s.

He has also written Has Anybody Got a Whistle?: A Football Reporter in Africa (2002) and Death in Pretoria: Untold Stories of Political Activists Executed During Apartheid, which was longlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards. He has contributed to TimesLIVE and Sunday Times.

Auf der Heyde said his bid was also driven by his progressive outlook and interest in “the sociology of football”, including good governance.

“I would consider it a victory if my attempt to become Fifa president gets people talking, questioning Infantino’s salary, his decisions and the way in which football is being governed,” he said.