MONACO (AP) — Gianni Infantino, the increasingly embattled FIFA president, was everywhere in the conversations as European soccer leaders gathered this week in Monaco for the Champions League draw.
UEFA, the European soccer confederation, is spearheading the backlash against Infantino over his failed World Cup sell-off plan that created a deep rift in the sport one month ago.
Many of its member federations have withdrawn their support for the FIFA leader,
who is up for re-election in March 2027, and some have called for his resignation.
Infantino has not given any indication he plans to step down.
Here’s what to know about the growing pushback against the FIFA president.
On Thursday, UEFA escalated the situation by revealing that it is preparing a possible criminal complaint against the FIFA president in Switzerland – where the organization is based – for alleged mismanagement.
The European soccer confederation filed requests in U.S. courts seeking evidence about Infantino’s secretive plan to give private investors led by Joshua Kushner a stake in the profits of future World Cups and other FIFA tournaments for $4.2 billion.
FIFA withdrew the proposal on Aug. 1, just days after it was made public, after intense pushback.
UEFA’s lawyers called the plan “a vehicle for Infantino and that small circle to acquire a permanent stake in and otherwise profit from FIFA’s most valuable assets to the detriment of FIFA, its members, and other parties within the football family.”
FIFA did not comment on UEFA’s move, which increases pressure on Infantino and puts other FIFA staffers at risk of legal exposure relating to a project that its now-fired chief operating officer said was Infantino’s idea.
It also means Kushner, the younger brother of U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, faces increased scrutiny at a time when he is involved in a $12 billion takeover deal for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Some of Infantino’s critics want him to step down before the vote.
“Infantino is polarizing the world in a way we haven’t seen in history,” Norwegian soccer federation president Lise Klaveness said in Monaco.
Norway was the first FIFA member federation explicitly asking Infantino to resign in the wake of the World Cup investment plan.
Just months ago, ahead of the World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Infantino was cruising toward an uncontested election win next March, with a clear majority of FIFA members backing him.
Things look less certain now, with UEFA, Asian confederation AFC and CONCACAF, the governing body for soccer North and Central America and the Caribbean, accusing the FIFA president of “ deception.”
Together those groups represent a majority of FIFA member federations. However, several AFC and CONCACAF members have declared continued support for Infantino as have a series of soccer federations in Africa and South America, many of which depend on FIFA funding. He needs just over half of FIFA’s 211 member federations to vote for him to be re-elected.
Infantino spent last weekend in the Dominican Republic meeting FIFA members from the Caribbean, despite a request by FIFA’s Canadian vice president and CONCACAF leader Victor Montagliani not to visit.
The Kushner-backed $4.2 billion investment would have funded $20 million offers to each of FIFA’s 211 member federations. That would be game-changing money for the 25 members in the Caribbean.
On Wednesday, Infantino’s Instagram account showed he was in Vietnam.
So far, no challenger has emerged to run against Infantino. The candidate deadline is Nov. 18, four months before election day in Rabat, Morocco, which is a FIFA stronghold.
Infantino would be expected in Poland soon for the FIFA-organized Under-20 Women’s World Cup played from Sept. 5-27. But one Polish soccer official in Monaco said they had no idea of Infantino’s plans to be in the country.
It is a long-standing quip that FIFA staff read Instagram to learn where he is.
UEFA has an executive committee meeting Sept. 15 in Thessaloniki, Greece.
The influential European Football Clubs group meets Sept. 29 in Copenhagen. It is close to sealing a joint venture deal with FIFA overseeing the 2029 Club World Cup that Infantino wants to be worth $2 billion.
The clubs’ leader Nasser al-Khelaifi, from Paris Saint-Germain, is a key ally of UEFA and also a member of the government of Qatar which has backed Infantino in this crisis.
___
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
