Gianni Infantino Term eligibility has come under scrutiny after human rights organisation FairSquare urged FIFA to prevent the president from seeking another term, arguing that he has already reached the maximum limit allowed under the organisation’s statutes.
It has a three term limit on its presidents as dictated by FIFA rules. Infantino was elected at the first time in 2016 after the resignation of Sepp Blatter. In 2022, FIFA took a different stance and agreed to a definition that would mean his first term was not a full term as he had served an interrupted mandate.
FairSquare challenges that view and has made a complaint to FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC). In the eyes of the organisation, allowing Infantino to be exempt from the term limit during his first term would be unfair and unethical, as it goes against the FIFA statutes.
FairSquare director Nicholas McGeehan said the complaint was a violation of FIFA regulations and thus could set a precedent for future governance issues.
The clash may be important since FIFA is mulling over to extend their leadership beyond Infantino’s tenure. The GACC’s ruling would set a precedent for whether the president can run for a second term or if the body will have to read the term-limit clause more strictly.
Since 2016, Infantino has been in charge of FIFA, which he was re-elected to without any opposition in 2019 and 2023. His leadership has brought about significant shifts in international football, such as the expansion of the men’s World Cup, and also sustained commercial expansion of FIFA.
With the latest challenge, FIFA’s governance system is back in the spotlight. The question is that of whether Infantino’s first term as president should be counted towards the three-term limit.
