Victor Montagliani will not challenge Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency

The reported decision

Victor Montagliani, president of Concacaf since 2016 and one of FIFA's eight vice-presidents, is reported not to be standing against Gianni Infantino in the FIFA presidential election. According to ESPN, the BBC and The Guardian, citing anonymous sources, the 61-year-old Canadian prefers to seek a new term as Concacaf president. The Guardian reported that Montagliani told Concacaf staff he intends to stand for re-election next year, a message relayed to most of the confederation's 41 members. Sources cited by The New York Times said the decision rules him out of the FIFA race. Montagliani had been widely touted as a potential candidate, particularly among UEFA member associations, who doubted a European could beat Infantino in a ballot of FIFA's 211 members.

Infantino's position

Infantino has led FIFA for ten years, and his abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, which would have sold stakes in competitions including the World Cup to private investors, drew strong opposition. Montagliani, like Infantino the child of Italian immigrants, had long been regarded as an ally before he distanced himself from the FIFA president. Concacaf, UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have all called for Infantino to stand down. Not every confederation is on that side, however, because the Mexican Football Federation pledged its support for Infantino in August, and Jamaican Football Federation president Michael Ricketts has also backed him. The AFC president, Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, has appeared to soften his stance on Infantino and FIFA reform, as reported by The Athletic on Wednesday.

Candidates and timetable

Ramon Vega, a former Switzerland and Tottenham Hotspur defender, became on Wednesday the first person to say he would run against Infantino, stating his aim to 'restore FIFA's credibility and reunite the global football family'. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, who has ruled himself out of the FIFA race, confirmed on Thursday that he will run for a fourth and final term as UEFA president. Ceferin had earlier called Infantino an 'emperor' at the European Club Association general assembly on 29 September, according to RFI. The deadline for candidacies is 18 November, and Concacaf's own presidential election is due in the first quarter of next year, before the FIFA vote on 18 March 2027 in Rabat. Sources told RFI that a European candidate would have no chance, a view a source close to world football bodies confirmed to AFP.

The FIFA Council meeting

The FIFA Council meets on 15 October in Zurich, its first meeting since the FFE plan was exposed in July, despite repeated calls from members for an extraordinary general meeting. The agenda includes a review of the FFE proposal and of the body's governance framework. Montagliani, Ceferin and Salman are expected to attend, and according to The Guardian they plan to demand an independent review of FFE and broader governance reforms that would give stakeholders a greater voice and formalise the council's role in decision-making.

What comes next

With no credible challenger yet in place, RFI reports that UEFA may shift its offensive onto the judicial terrain, on the model of the fall of Sepp Blatter. Montagliani is seen by some as having great ambitions for the post-Infantino era, but more likely from 2031 onwards, according to RFI. For now, Infantino remains in a strong position for re-election, with no heavyweight opponent in sight.