Peter Auf der Heyde launches Fifa presidency bid against Gianni Infantino

Former Soccer News editor Peter Auf der Heyde has declared his candidacy for the Fifa presidency, challenging incumbent Gianni Infantino and seeking an annual salary of $1 (R16.50) if elected.

The 65-year-old South African, who lectures in journalism at Southampton Solent University, is a former sports editor of Germany’s Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). He studied at Rhodes University in Makhanda, formerly Grahamstown, where he helped establish and became president of the Grahamstown Soccer Association.

Auf der Heyde is best known in South Africa for editing Soccer News, a popular magazine which competed successfully with Kickoff during the 1990s and 2000s. He has also worked in football as a player, administrator, club owner, club manager and journalist.

He told TimesLIVE by WhatsApp that he had entered the race because “something needed to be done” about Fifa and the wider state of global football.

“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.”

Auf der Heyde said his concerns had grown after Sepp Blatter left the Fifa presidency.

“Like many people, I was hoping after [Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter] left things would become better,” he said. “But under Infantino, sadly, they have not become better. Some would argue they’ve become worse.”

He added: “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.

The Fifa president also faced controversy over decisions surrounding the 2026 Fifa World Cup in North America in June and July, including awarding United States President Donald Trump the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize.

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 reportedly considering a bid. Infantino is seeking a fourth term at the election in Morocco in March next year.

A candidate must receive nominations from five federations. Auf der Heyde said he had written to all 211 associations and had received a response from the Jamaican Football Association, which requested more information.

“I’m not even asking countries to vote for me; I’m asking countries to nominate me,” he said. “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.”

Auf der Heyde said he would regard it as a success if his campaign prompted scrutiny of Infantino’s $6m salary, decisions and governance of Fifa. He is also the author of 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.