Who is tipped to replace Gianni Infantino after the World Cup investment plan crisis?
The future of the World Cup appears to be intact after FIFA withdrew its proposal to sell stakes in its prized tournament and other events to private investors.
The outlook for the president of football’s global governing body, Gianni Infantino, is not quite as clear.
The backlash that met his planned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) vehicle was widespread.
The resignation of Infantino’s senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro and allegations that Infantino deceived employees by FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour were damning.
With UEFA now saying it has lost confidence in Infantino, who took office in 2016 was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and in 2023, speculation is rife that at least one direct challenger will rise ahead of March’s FIFA presidential elections.
Al Jazeera Sport runs through the names at the top of a list to stand in what only days ago appeared a one-horse race.
The name that has moved swiftly to the top of the list if there were to be a challenge to Infantino is Paris Saint-Germain’s president Nasser al-Khelaifi.
The 52-year-old is a Qatari businessman and former professional tennis player.
Al-Khelaifi, who became president of PSG in 2011, also chairs global broadcaster beIN Media Group and chairs the influential lobby group European Football Clubs.
The Doha-born sports executive is also a member of UEFA’s executive committee and a member of the FIFA Council.
Al-Khelaifi oversaw PSG’s first UEFA Champions League title in 2025, a crown they defended in 2026.
Given his positioning as a vice president at FIFA, Victor Montagliani is a clear frontrunner to step up to the top job.
The Canadian is also the president of CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football – a role he has held since 2016 – so played a key role in the hosting of FIFA World Cup 2026.
Before taking up his current role, the 60-year-old held the position of president of the Canada Football Association, where he proposed Canada’s hosting of the 2026 World Cup. That move led to the eventual tripartite bid alongside the United States and Mexico.
CONCACAF’s 41 member associations rejected FIFA’s FFE proposal at a meeting on Thursday, but stopped short of backing UEFA’s move to boycott.
Rumours did circulate, however, that Montagliani was preparing a challenge to Infantino as a result of FIFA’s proposals.
The Asian Football Association (AFC) president, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, is also FIFA’s senior vice president and was one of the most outspoken individuals at the highest level of the game when he openly criticised Infantino’s FFE plans.
The Bahraini described the proposals as “totally unacceptable” in an open letter to his regional body’s 47 member associations on Thursday.
The AFC released a statement on Friday saying that it stood “in solidarity” with UEFA and CONCACAF, but did not announce plans as the former had done to boycott FIFA events.
Sheikh Salman was defeated by the then-newly appointed Infantino in the 2016 FIFA elections.
The 60-year-old, who is a member of the House of Khalifa, the royal family of Bahrain, has held the AFC presidency since 2013, taking up the position after holding the same role with the Bahraini Football Association.
FIFA’s November 18 deadline for candidates to stand for March’s elections must surely be regarded by Sheikh Salman as a serious shot at a job he missed out on 10 years ago.
As the head of the biggest, richest and – therefore – most powerful of FIFA’s confederations, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin will hold serious sway with the 211 FIFA member states should he stand against Infantino.
The 58-year-old’s confederation was also the biggest opponent of FIFA’s proposed plans with UEFA’s 55 nations unanimously voting on Thursday to boycott events staged by the global game’s governing body.
A Slovenian-born lawyer, Ceferin has held his position with UEFA since 2016 – having stepped up from his own country’s football association – with his election, he was automatically made a FIFA vice president.
UEFA’s statement, following the vote to boycott FIFA, was damning in its appraisal of the FFE plan, saying: “No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”
It said the move was “both irresponsible and indefensible” and would sell the “soul” of football.
UEFA on Saturday released a statement saying that it had “lost confidence” in Infantino.
“This is a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story,” Saturday’s statement continued.
“The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has only just begun.”
Ceferin did not release a personal statement at any stage during the matter, but the weight of UEFA’s opposition spoke for itself.
An outsider for a potential FIFA presidency challenge is Patrice Motsepe, the head of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The South African billionaire businessman, with an estimated net worth of $3.7bn, has only held his position since 2021.
The 64-year-old has reshaped African football in that time and has moved the showpiece Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) from a biennial competition to run in a four-year cycle following the completion of a 2028 edition.
The 2025 tournament, hosted by Morocco, ended in a farce for CAF with the Senegal team leaving the field in injury time ahead of a penalty that was awarded to Morocco, which they disputed.
After a 14-minute delay, the match resumed, the penalty was missed, and Senegal secured a 1-0 win in extra time.
CAF have subsequently awarded the trophy to Morocco after a review, but the Senegalese have taken the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Although not sitting solely at the door of Motsepe, the final marked a huge embarrassment for CAF, with the entire continent awaiting the decision of CAS.
If Infantino has had a tough few days, African football has had a brutal year.
Neither instance is closed, however, and both are set for turbulent times ahead on the sport administration front.
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