FIFA Council meets in Zurich as Infantino faces UEFA-led opposition on reform

A first showdown in Zurich

The FIFA Council meets on Thursday, 15 October, at 11:00 in Zurich, its first session since the failed plan for external World Cup marketing. It is also the first time since the 2026 World Cup that Gianni Infantino and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin sit across a table from each other. German football federation (DFB) president Bernd Neuendorf sits with the European group pressing for change, and German media describe the session as a red-alert confrontation. Infantino has become a polarizing figure, and the meeting is expected to turn heated once the agenda reaches its sensitive items.

The failed marketing plan and the agenda

The Council must first work through five agenda items on formalities and committee reports. Item six covers FIFA Forward Enterprise, a multibillion-dollar scheme to market the World Cup outside the football institutions, which Infantino pushed largely alone with US investors before it collapsed. The European group also wants the peace prize Infantino gave US President Donald Trump in December, a ceremony the articles describe as grotesque, placed on the agenda. Neuendorf had said of the FIFA president that the group must remove him from office, using a football image:

We must send him off the pitch.

The reform demand and the deadline

The core demand of the opponents is a reform under which the next president would hold mostly representative functions, while business would be run by the full-time administration and the Council. Infantino considers this unacceptable, although he promoted the same idea himself before his first election some ten years ago. The opponents must name a candidate for the presidential election by 18 November at the latest. FIFA has announced no public statements after the session, given how volatile the situation is, and both camps are likely to present their version of events as a success.

Money, complaints and pressure

Infantino is expected to propose more than $6 billion in funding payments to member associations for 2027 to 2030, which The Athletic reported would be more than twice the previous amount. FIFA would draw on its large financial reserves after the economic success of the 2026 World Cup. In early October UEFA demanded an extra payout of at least $10 million for each member country from FIFA's reserves. In September Infantino had already offered more money and shown readiness for reform, which took some ammunition away from his critics. Pressure also comes from a Norwegian ethics complaint and preparations for a criminal complaint against him, while reports have raised questions about a largely empty FIFA office in Trump Tower and an allegedly undisclosed salary.

What happens next

The session starts at 11:00 on Thursday, 15 October, with Infantino and the opponents seated at the same table. The five routine items come before the peace prize and the failed marketing plan are discussed. According to The Athletic, Infantino is expected to table his funding proposal. The opponents must present a presidential candidate by 18 November, and that date marks the next firm milestone in the dispute.

1. Oct 15, 11:00 AMFIFA Council session begins in Zurich
2. Nov 18, 2026Latest deadline for opponents to present a presidential candidate