The coalition against Gianni Infantino is coming apart at the seams. Less than two months after AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Chalifa signed a joint letter sharply criticizing the FIFA boss, he's now writing to Infantino directly — proposing an internal working group to strengthen FIFA's existing governance structures rather than tear them down. That's not a reform push. That's a retreat.
The shift didn't happen in a vacuum. This week, 22 Arab associations — 12 of them from Asia — publicly declared their support for Infantino. Qatar, which took issue with the original critical letter, has been vocal. The pressure worked.
UEFA's Berlin meeting has limited options
Europe and CONCACAF haven't given up. UEFA's leadership, along with the presidents and general secretaries of all 55 member associations, are gathering in Berlin on Thursday to figure out their next move. The clock is ticking — any official rival candidate to Infantino must be nominated by November 18.
CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani of Canada is the name most often floated as a potential challenger. UEFA's Aleksander Ceferin and PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi have both been mentioned publicly, and both have repeatedly batted the idea away. Don't hold your breath for a surprise announcement coming out of Berlin — a rival nomination at this particular meeting is considered unlikely.
Infantino, who has led FIFA since 2016 and is chasing a fourth term at the March 2027 Congress in Rabat, spent the summer taking serious heat over his failed push to hand World Cup commercial rights to external investors. His leadership style drew rare public criticism from figures who usually stay quiet. His response — offering talks on internal reform for the first time — gave fence-sitters exactly the opening they needed to step back from the opposition camp.
What this means for the power struggle
The math is shifting. FIFA's Congress votes by confederation, and if the AFC and Arab blocs are firmly in Infantino's corner, Europe and CONCACAF don't have the numbers to block a fourth term on their own. The opposition needed a unified global front. They're not getting one.
Unless UEFA emerges from Berlin with a credible candidate and a concrete strategy before the November 18 deadline, Infantino is on course for Rabat unchallenged.
