Fifa: Arsène Wenger as a possible candidate to succeed Infantino

DFB Vice President Hans-Joachim Watzke sees Arsène Wenger as a suitable challenger for Gianni Infantino in the next Fifa presidential election. "I only know one thing: He would be great," said the 67-year-old in an interview with RTL and Sky Sport.

As the New York Times and the BBC report, among others, Wenger is considering running as the Swiss's opponent in the election in March 2027. Wenger, who successfully coached Arsenal FC for 22 years, has been working at FIFA as director of global football development since 2019.

However, Watzke also emphasized that Wenger had not yet made a decision. »The problem is speculating about names now. Because he obviously hasn’t committed yet,” said Watzke, who is also a member of the UEFA Executive Committee.

He knows Wenger well and has often exchanged ideas with him at the Club World Cup, among other things. “Wenger is totally serious,” Watzke continued. »Totally credible because he is a footballer. Also a man who really lived football and for whom football comes first and not any other things.

Wenger is part of the FIFA system of the controversial President Infantino, but in the summer he took a position against the events surrounding the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Wenger declared that he was not involved and was against it, reported Watzke. That requires “a certain amount of moral courage,” said the official.

As the British "Telegraph" reports, even Emmanuel Macron offered his compatriot his help. Accordingly, the French President wanted to promote Wenger to other heads of state and had contacted him to convince him to run for office.

UEFA wants to overthrow Infantino, but has not yet presented its own opponent for the election on March 18th. The deadline for nominating candidates ends on Wednesday. Watzke is now taking UEFA boss Aleksander Čeferin to task. "It is the president's job to now talk to possible candidates and present this to us, not the other way around," said Watzke. He assumes that Čeferin will contact him in the coming days as soon as there is a promising applicant.

According to Watzke, a non-European alternative such as Japanese football official Kozo Tashima is also conceivable. Tashima has already submitted his application. »Everything in life is a question of alternatives. And ideally, all of us who are of the opinion that something needs to change at FIFA should then agree on the best option," said Watzke.