Key dates to decide Gianni Infantino’s future with Fifa in crisis | OneFootball

Gianni Infantino’s position as Fifa president is verging on untenable as member associations begin to withdraw their support for his re-election following his disastrously botched bid to privatise the World Cup.

Infantino planned to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors under the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), but this was met with intense backlash from football federations, with Uefa threatening to boycott Fifa tournaments if the plans were passed.

The response forced a climbdown from the Swiss-Italian but that is far from the end of the story. Many footballing bodies say they have “lost confidence” in Infantino as president, with the Asian Football Confederation calling for an “urgent review of [Fifa’s] governance”.

Before he eventually scrapped the plans, senior figures inside Fifa turned on the president. Infantino’s long-term adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, chose to quit in protest over the initial proposals, while Fifa’s chief operating officer said that Infantino “deceived” staff over his plans.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham reiterated his belief that Infantino is “not the right man for the job” before things escalated further with the official withdrawal of support from the likes of the Welsh and Swedish FAs, with England set to follow suit.

With it not expected that Infantino will bow to resignation calls despite the immense pressure, federations are now looking to oust the maligned president from power, with certain dates in the coming months set to prove pivotal in shaping the football world governing body’s future.

14 August: Fifa to come to a decision over an independent agency’s exploration of a 64-team World Cup.

A brief appearing to show the acceleration of Fifa’s World Cup expansion plans dropped at the height of the sell-off controversy, which revealed an “independent” assessment of the potential format which would implemented from the 2030 edition.

The timeline on the documents said Fifa would receive agency proposals by 7 August, with a Fifa decision on 14 August. Delivery of analysis by the agency is then scheduled for 11 September - eight days before member associations were meant to be voting over the FFE, before plans were scrapped.

While the timing of this decision appeared linked to the privatisation scheme - an expanded tournament would be hugely beneficial on a commercial front, after all - a 64-team format could nevertheless win Infantino support from smaller nations looking for a greater chance of qualification to football’s top table.

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The World Cup could be set for further expansion after the first 48-team tournament in 2026 (Getty)

23 September: Deadline for Extraordinary Congress agenda, which takes place two months later. This is where a vote of no confidence could take place, if the necessary procedural steps are completed by this date to include it on the agenda.

Uefa is reviewing the possibility for its national associations to trigger a vote of no confidence in Infantino, which would only require 43 associations to take action.

However, it is unlikely such a move would be made unless there was a strong belief, if not certainty, that a majority among Fifa’s 211 members existed to unseat Infantino at that Congress.

This means the movement to garner enough opposition to Infantino faces a race against time.

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Gianni Infantino may face a vote of no confidence (PA)

18 November: Deadline for Fifa presidential candidates.

Those looking to challenge Infantino for president would need to submit their proposals by this time to stand in the election held in March 2027. So far no other candidate has declared to take Infantino on.

There are calls for Uefa president Alexander Ceferin and Qatar Sports Investment chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi to stand, though it does not appear either are keen to run for office.

Meanwhile, it appears Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, a current Fifa vice-president, would be prepared to expedite his aspirations to run for football’s top position, though no official statement of intent has been made.

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Concacaf president Montagliani has been rumoured as a potential challenger to Infantino (Getty)

23 November: Extraordinary Congress scheduled to take place.

If included in the agenda by September’s deadline, this is would be the vehicle for a vote of no confidence.

Infantino would lose power if a simple majority of the votes cast supported the motion. There are 211 member associations who all have a single vote.

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A vote of no confidence could take place at the Extraordinary Conference, if it's included on the agenda (Reuters)

18 March 2027: Fifa presidential election takes place at the 77th Fifa Congress, held in Rabat, Morocco.

If Infantino avoids being ousted by a vote of no confidence, his presidency will be put on the line when he seeks re-election next March.

That is contingent on somebody standing against him. In 2023, the incumbent Infantino was the only candidate in the presidential race.