Three Germans will be at the table when the future of FIFA is discussed at the Uefa summit on October 8th and 9th in Berlin. The mission: The group is supposed to find a candidate to counter FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The 56-year-old Italian-Swiss is being criticized like never before after UEFA prevented the sale of commercial rights to FIFA competitions such as the World Cup and the Club World Cup to a US investor. He is to be overthrown in new elections at the FIFA Congress in March 2027 in Rabat, Morocco.
Representing the DFB at “The Ritz-Carlton” in Berlin are: President Bernd Neuendorf, General Secretary Holger Blask and Vice President and Bundesliga boss Hans-Joachim Watzke as a member of the Uefa Executive Committee.
But anyone who believes that the top representatives of the 55 UEFA member associations, led by President Aleksander Čeferin, are already making a name public, is wrong. According to information from UEFA circles in this editorial team, this is rather unlikely. Rather, there should be a tactical game for time.
Infantino's opponent is not expected to be presented until the end of October - that would be around three weeks before FIFA's application deadline for the presidential post expires on November 18th. The idea behind it: Infantino and his henchmen should have as little time as possible to put the challenger under pressure and discredit them. There is one thing UEFA wants to avoid at all costs: that the candidate withdraws his application due to the headwind from FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
Top candidate carries a burden of legacy with him
Potential applicants will be closely examined by UEFA until the decision is made at the end of October. Not just on their qualities - but also on possible problems that could open them up to attack.
One name that seems particularly interesting is Victor Montagliani from Canada. The 61-year-old Concacaf president, responsible for North, Central America and the Caribbean, is being treated in the media as a possible candidate. His continental association, like the Asian AFC, supports UEFA in its efforts to overthrow Infantino.
Montagliani could catch up with a legacy. In 2021, Vancouver Whitecaps players called for his suspension. The accusation: In 2008, as vice-president of the Canadian association, Montagliani did not adequately deal with allegations of abuse against Bob Birarda, then coach of the Whitecaps and the U-20 women's national team. Birarda was fired, but the reasons were kept secret, so he was able to continue working in girls' football. In 2022 he was sentenced to prison for sexual assaults that he had committed against female players over decades.
Montagliani rejected the allegations against him, saying the allegations had been dealt with “vigorously”. And he continued his official career.
“We Europeans are perceived as arrogant”
UEFA is now in a dilemma. Montagliani, Fifa deputy under Infantino since 2016, would not represent a real new beginning anyway. It is considered the “lowest common denominator” that the 55 European associations could agree to. But this does not automatically mean that a European candidate could count on the support of all 41 American Concacaf associations.
Leverkusen's managing director Fernando Carro, board member of the European club association EFC and member of the UEFA Commission for Club Competitions (CCC), gets to the heart of the problem. “We Europeans are perceived as a bit arrogant in parts of the world because we are said to see ourselves as the center of the football world,” Carro told “Sport Bild”: “If you want to bring about change at the top of FIFA, you need a candidate who is also convincing outside of Europe and can win majorities.”
In numbers, these sentences mean: Infantino's challenger must be able to collect at least 106 of the 211 FIFA votes worldwide.
Another name that is being traded in the media is that of Sheikh Salman from Bahrain. But the 60-year-old Fifa vice president also has a penalty. Not just because he was defeated by Infantino when he took office in 2016. UEFA circles also say that the growing power and influence of Arab players in world football is already triggering mistrust. Examples include the 2022 World Cups awarded to Qatar and 2034 to Saudi Arabia despite human rights violations. Both ruling houses are now supporting Infantino, who is also supported by Africa (Caf) and South America (Conmebol).
Infantino maintains good relations in the Middle East
Just this week, national Arab associations declared their support for the incumbent president. A statement from the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) said: "Over the past decade, Gianni Infantino has strengthened the unity of the global football community, developed football and significantly expanded its global reach." The associations also include the World Cup hosts Qatar (2022) and Saudi Arabia. The organizer of the 2034 World Cup expressed its support at the end of August with a time restriction. Infantino traditionally maintains good relations in the region.
And then there is the tricky issue of multi-club ownership – i.e. multiple investments in football clubs. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the owner of Newcastle United and several clubs in the Saudi Pro League, including Al-Nassr with Portugal's veteran star Cristiano Ronaldo, through the sovereign wealth fund PIF. PIF also invested $1 billion in the streaming service DAZN. For this purpose, DAZN acquired the TV rights to the 2025 Club World Cup in the USA from FIFA.
And Saudi Arabia is by no means the only example. Sheikh Mansour from the United Arab Emirates is also heavily involved in global football. His City Football Group (CFG) has stakes in 13 clubs worldwide, including Manchester City. A fundamental question therefore arises for UEFA: Is the influence of the Middle East on world football already too great?
According to UEFA, it cannot be ruled out that some Europeans will refuse to vote for an Arab candidate for the FIFA throne out of fear that football will be sold out to the Gulf states and their inexhaustible oil reserves.
The fight for the top spot at FIFA has long since become more than a duel between Infantino and a challenger. It's about power and influence, about billions - and about the crucial question: Who will determine the direction of world football in the future?
