Blatter calls FIFA's Infantino a dictator and backs a CAS complaint against him

Blatter's attack on Infantino

Sepp Blatter, who led FIFA before Gianni Infantino, gave an interview to Der Spiegel published on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, in which he called his successor a dictator. Blatter said people inside FIFA had told him that nobody is allowed to share a lift with Infantino, and he suggested that Infantino might be sent to psychiatry. He tied the criticism to a plan to set up a company to run FIFA's commercial activities and sell minority stakes to private investors, a project that drew protests and was later cancelled. Blatter, who is 90, argued that Infantino had changed after meeting Donald Trump and now believes he was chosen to monopolise the world's most popular sport.

“He is a dictator. People in FIFA tell me that nobody is allowed to take the lift with him.”

A contest for the FIFA presidency

Infantino, 56, is seeking re-election at the FIFA congress in Rabat on 18 March 2027, and Ziare describes him as the clear favourite despite the protests. Challengers have until 18 November to register their candidacies. Blatter said UEFA would put forward a rival in the coming week:

“There is a UEFA plan, next week they will name a rival candidate.”

Stern, citing the German news agency DPA, reports that Arsène Wenger, 77, is being discussed as a possible challenger, with a decision expected in the week of 9 November. Blatter himself floated Sebastian Coe, the head of World Athletics who lost the 2025 race for the IOC presidency, and said Coe had once chaired FIFA's ethics committee. SRF found nothing known about any ambitions Coe may have. Blatter also accused Infantino of promising national federations more money and of flying to Asia to campaign after the Asian Football Confederation moved to oppose him. Stern reports that Infantino has secured voting pledges from Africa, Asia and South America that would give him a majority.

Legal route and FIFA's response

Blatter recommended that Infantino be taken before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, arguing that trips paid by FIFA for campaigning and an award to Trump that FIFA bodies had not agreed to break the federation's statutes. He called the peace prize given to Trump last year embarrassing and described the suspension of a red card against US player Folarin Balogun during the summer World Cup as Infantino's worst mistake. FIFA said independent judicial bodies had suspended the ban. On the lift claim, FIFA responded:

“Mr Infantino does use the lift at FIFA, but he does so when other people are also present.”

FIFA also told AFP that Infantino carries out his duties as president in the context of his travels.

Background to the feud

Blatter led FIFA from 1998 until he was forced out at the end of 2015 amid corruption investigations, and according to 20 Minuten the two men last spoke almost eleven years ago. Ziare reports that Blatter and Michel Platini were definitively acquitted by Swiss justice in 2025 on fraud charges. Before the 2026 World Cup, Blatter had called for a boycott of the tournament and told people to stay away from the United States, and he later called Infantino a 'Sun King'. Blatter said he bore some responsibility for FIFA's wealth because he had sold its worldwide television and advertising rights, adding that his predecessor João Havelange once told him he had created a monster.