A growing wave of opposition is engulfing Fifa president Gianni Infantino, just months ahead of his planned run for a fourth and final term in office next March. The latest flashpoint stems from a scrapped controversial proposal to sell minority stakes in Fifa’s top competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cups, to private external investors.
The English Football Association has confirmed it will formally send a letter to Fifa withdrawing its existing backing for Infantino, joining Wales, Serbia, Sweden and Finland that have already publicly pulled their support for the incumbent president. Multiple senior European football figures are now calling for a leadership change ahead of the 2026 Fifa presidential election, where Infantino will need 106 votes from the governing body’s 211 global member associations to secure re-election.
The controversial plan, which has since been abandoned, would have created a new commercial subsidiary called Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), which would have opened the door for third-party investors to buy non-controlling minority shares in Fifa’s flagship events. Sources indicate the proposed investor group was set to be led by Thrive Eternal, a U.S.-based venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, brother of former White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, who is Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
In a sharp escalation of tensions, European football’s governing body Uefa has threatened formal legal action against Fifa over the failed proposal. In a formal letter sent to Infantino, Uefa confirmed it is actively considering arbitration, legal proceedings and regulatory complaints tied to the FFE initiative. The body has also ordered Fifa to preserve all documents and electronically stored data related to the plan, including communications across every major messaging and work platform, correspondence with all involved stakeholders, and detailed records of a proposed $40 million payout structure for member associations that backed the plan. Uefa demanded Infantino acknowledge receipt of the letter within five business days and confirm all required materials have been preserved.
Scottish Football Association has already aligned its position with Uefa’s public lack of confidence in Infantino, and criticism of the plan and the Fifa president’s leadership has spread beyond Europe: North, Central American and Caribbean governing body Concacaf has also released a public statement condemning the proposal. The Asian Football Confederation has also declared it stands in solidarity with Uefa and Concacaf, though some global confederations including Africa, Conmebol and Oceania have not issued public criticism of the plan or Infantino. To date, Qatar, Lebanon, Kuwait and Sri Lanka have publicly reaffirmed their support for Infantino to continue in his role.
Uefa vice-president Laura McAllister described the pushback as a defining turning point for global football governance. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, McAllister called the FFE planning process an “abysmal governance process” that has exposed critical gaps in accountability for Fifa leadership. “We cannot keep putting out fires because of unilateral plans,” she said, adding that she hopes the growing rebellion will lead to a change in leadership at the top of Fifa in 2026. “This is a big moment in the history of football.”
As things stand, the opposition movement faces a key hurdle: Infantino retains significant support among member associations outside of Europe and Concacaf, and opposition limited to those two confederations is not expected to gather enough votes to unseat him. Behind the scenes, opposition figures are working to convince more member associations across other global regions to join the rebellion.
If the wave of withdrawn support does not push Infantino to step down voluntarily, opponents could trigger an emergency meeting of the 37-member Fifa Council to force a vote on calling for his resignation. Under Fifa rules, an emergency meeting can be called if 19 Council members back the demand, and the meeting must be convened within two weeks of the request. Uefa controls nine seats on the Council, AFC holds seven, Concacaf holds five, Africa holds six, Conmebol holds five and Oceania holds three, with the remaining two seats filled by Infantino and secretary general Mattias Grafstrom. No motion for an emergency meeting will be filed until opponents are confident they have secured the required 19 votes, but that remains the next likely step in the fast-moving crisis.
BBC Sport has reached out to Fifa for official comment on the growing opposition and legal threats, and no response has been issued as of the latest reporting.