Gianni Infantino faces growing criticism ahead of the FIFA presidential election, but the absence of a confirmed heavyweight challenger has kept his bid for a fourth and final term firmly in focus, according to observers cited by AFP.
The 56-year-old Swiss football administrator is said to have fallen out of favour with a number of football federations after suggesting the idea of private money into the World Cup. Plans called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) came out in July following the success of the World Cup, but were soon discarded due to opposition.
The new plan would have had a commercial arm that would have overseen the largest events of FIFA, including the World Cup. The plan has caused some tension in the football governance system, but Infantino remains with strong support from some of the associations in Africa and South America.
The quest for a credible challenger now figures prominently in the election coming up in March. The two strong contenders for re-election – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and CONCACAF chief Victor Montagliani – are not expected to contest Infantino’s bid for re-election directly, but within their own leagues.
The candidates have to make their stance official till Nov. 18, giving only a short time till September to the potential contenders.
However Terrence Burns, a marketing consultant who has helped pull off two successful World Cup hosting bids, told AFP that Infantino still has a strong position in FIFA’s political circles. Burns described potential challengers as being “more likely to have trouble building a case for a campaign or try to play strategic game-play”.
Former marketing chief of the International Olympic Committee Michael Payne was also taken aback at the absence of a “serious challenger”. He called the potential re-election of Infantino “an extraordinary political comeback,” given the criticism he faced and his ongoing support.
