Infantino has a primary challenger

Former professional footballer Ramon Vega has put himself into play for the election of Fifa president and wants to challenge Gianni Infantino. The 55-year-old Swiss publicly declared his ambitions via the media as the first possible opponent of the controversial head of the world association. Vega first told the Swiss media service Klein Report that he promised “fundamental reforms”.

The former national player had already considered running for Infantino's re-election in 2019, but had not been officially nominated. To do this, he would have had to submit letters of support from at least five FIFA member associations. Vega now also has to fulfill this criterion and also have to prove that he has worked in football for at least two of the last five years.

The leadership of the European Football Union Uefa as well as the presidents and general secretaries of the 55 Uefa member associations want to discuss how to proceed in the power struggle in world football at a meeting in Berlin on Thursday. Numerous associations in Europe have withdrawn their trust in Infantino, and the German Football Association has also taken a clear stance against the FIFA President.

Infantino came under massive pressure in the summer after an ultimately failed attempt to market the World Cup rights by external investors. His leadership style has also been sharply criticized by parts of the football world. He recently reacted to this and offered his opponents talks about possible reforms in FIFA for the first time.

The 56-year-old has led the world association since 2016 and is seeking re-election for a fourth term at the next FIFA Congress in March 2027 in Rabat, Morocco. The opposition, which also includes numerous associations from North and Central America as well as parts of Asia, has until the end of November 18th to officially name an opposing candidate. It is considered unlikely that the European associations will publicly present a candidate as early as Thursday.

The Canadian Victor Montagliani, President of the Continental Association of North and Central America and the Caribbean, is considered a possible candidate. Aleksander Ceferin, President of the European Football Union, and Nasser al-Khelaifi, Qatari boss of Paris Saint-Germain, were also publicly traded - but both have repeatedly rejected any ambitions.

In Asia, however, the clear front against Infantino seems to be crumbling. After several Arab associations recently sided with the controversial head of the world association in the power struggle, the president of the Asian continental association AFC is also adopting a more moderate tone than before.

The desired reform process is not about a fundamental redesign of the FIFA governance system, according to a letter from FIFA Vice President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa to Infantino, which was also sent to the other heads of the confederations. Rather, it must be examined whether FIFA's existing governance structures can be strengthened. To do this, he suggests an internal working group. The letter is available to the dpa in full and was first reported by “The Athletic”.

Two months ago, the top official from Bahrain sharply attacked Infantino in a joint letter with the heads of the continental associations from Europe and North and Central America as well as the Caribbean. This caused criticism from Qatar, among other things. This week, 22 Arab associations, including twelve from Asia, declared their support for Infantino.