Infantino to face Fifa opposition at first council meeting since failed World Cup stake plan

Gianni Infantino will meet senior Fifa officials in Zurich on Thursday for the first time since his proposal to sell a stake in the organisation’s tournaments, including the World Cup, was abandoned.

The Fifa president has faced calls to resign from Aleksander Ceferin of Uefa, Salman Al Khalifa of the AFC and Victor Montagliani of Concacaf. Representatives of those three confederations will attend the Fifa Council meeting, alongside officials from Africa, South America and Oceania.

The 37-member council is expected to examine the failed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, which Infantino dropped within days of announcing it in July.

The plan involved selling a minority holding in a Fifa commercial subsidiary to private investors. A company founded by Joshua Kushner, brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, had been identified as the proposed lead investor.

Governance will also be discussed, with several influential figures seeking to reduce Infantino’s authority if they cannot remove him. The 56-year-old is due to stand for re-election in March 2027, while potential candidates must submit nominations by 18 November.

Former Switzerland and Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega said last week that he intended to stand, although he has not confirmed whether he has the support of the five national associations required to enter the contest.

The FFE proposal highlighted divisions within world football. Ceferin, Salman Al Khalifa and Montagliani said a change at the top of Fifa was needed, while Infantino has been seeking to strengthen his position.

He received a standing ovation when he met African football leaders in Cape Verde last week and is expected to have South American backing at next year’s election in Rabat, Morocco. Although the AFC has criticised his leadership, a number of Asian countries, including a group of Arab nations, have also indicated their support.

People familiar with the matter told Reuters that replacing Infantino remained unlikely, but said his opponents wanted to isolate him further and restrict his powers.

The council is also expected to consider Fifa’s financial reserves, the amount it can distribute to member associations, its disciplinary processes, governance structure and the Peace Prize awarded controversially to US President Donald Trump last year.

Last month, Uefa and Concacaf urged Fifa to give each of its 211 member associations $10m. That proposal challenged the FFE plan, which would have provided $20m in development funding and potentially allowed associations to access another $20m.

Emanuel Medeiros, founder and Global CEO of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance, said Fifa needed a “frank discussion” in Zurich.

“The eyes of the world are on them,” he said. “The world of football expects to see a council that takes this unique opportunity to establish a genuinely independent, comprehensive and transparent governance review. We certainly wish to see a new impetus, a new dynamic.”

Miguel Maduro, who chaired the Fifa Governance Committee in 2016 before being dismissed by Infantino, said he would be surprised if the meeting produced meaningful change.

“They may announce the setting up of a working group or even an independent review of Fifa governance but the credibility of either exercise will be very limited in the light of Fifa’s track record,” he said.

“Such an exercise, if not genuinely independent and enforceable, might be more of the same: a window dressing exercise simply aimed at reducing public pressure and to state they have now addressed whatever problems they had.”