A week is a long time in politics. Even in football politics.
On Tuesday morning, Gianni Infantino was in an unassailable position as president of FIFA, the most powerful position in football. Over the weekend, after he attempted to sell shares in FIFA competitions to private investors, Infantino's position is under increasing threat.
UEFA dealt Infantino a major blow on Thursday, deciding to boycott all FIFA events if the plan to sell shares goes ahead. Suddenly, European football's governing body sees an opportunity to oust Infantino. And this could be the best chance ever to do so.
But UEFA is not the only confederation unhappy. CONCACAF, the confederation with which Infantino worked closely on the 2026 World Cup, has called for a complete overhaul of FIFA's leadership. Even loyal nations from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have turned their backs on him.
Infantino was also abandoned by two of his closest allies. First by senior advisor Carlos Cordeiro, and then by chief operating officer Kevin Lamour.
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FIFA criticizes campaign to oust Infantino
Infantino resigned on Saturday morning, abandoning plans to sell his shares. And UEFA dealt him another devastating blow by issuing another strong statement. Among other things, UEFA wrote that it had lost confidence in the FIFA president.
The battle lines have already been drawn. But what could happen next?
How can Infantino be overthrown?
The quickest route to Infantino's departure would be for the Swiss to resign, as his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, did in 2015.
But Infantino still has support and he could try to hold out until March. He is running for another term as president of world football's governing body. It would be his fourth and final term as president.
Another scenario is for the FIFA Council to force Infantino to step down in an emergency meeting. Such a meeting can be called if 19 of the 37 members of the FIFA Council request it. UEFA has nine members, AFC has seven, CONCACAF five. Africa is represented on the FIFA Council with six members, South America with five and Oceania with three. The Council is completed by Infantino and the general secretary, Mattias Grafstrom.
If the disgruntled gather 19 votes, a meeting must be held within two weeks and the FIFA Council can ask Infantino to submit his resignation. But he can refuse to do so. However, the pressure on him would increase.
The next step would be an extraordinary congress of FIFA's 211 member countries. The congress is called with the votes of at least 43 national federations.
UEFA, which has 55 members, can call an extraordinary Congress whenever it wants. This, however, carries a risk, as it would effectively be an election without a candidate. 106 votes would be needed to pass a vote of no confidence. UEFA has 55 members in FIFA, Africa 54, Asia 46, North, Central and Caribbean 35, Oceania 11 and South America 10.
Africa, South America and Oceania have not criticized Infantino's plan.
So can UEFA reach 106 votes? A total of 136 countries officially rejected the investment plan. But voting to reject an idea is not the same as voting to remove Infantino.
Of these 136, Qatar has already publicly supported the Swiss, while Mexico has distanced itself from the CONCACAF joint statement.
So the next natural option is to find a suitable candidate to challenge Infantino in March. He had no opponents when he was re-elected in 2019 and 2023. The deadline for submitting candidacies is November 18, writes the BBC.
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Africa gives support to Infantino
Who could replace Infantino?
If UEFA and other critics go the election route, they need to find a unifying leader. A European candidate could struggle to garner global support. It would look as if UEFA wanted to take control of FIFA.
A candidate is needed who can attract the support of countries in CONCACAF, Africa and Asia. The most likely candidate seems to be the current CONCACAF president, Victor Montagliani of Canada.
Another candidate could be Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation. He leads the 46-member confederation, many of whom would need the money Infantino promised with the now-failed project.
Less likely is PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. The Qatari leader is also the chairman of the European Football Association. Al-Khelaifi has not expressed interest in the position.
Can Infantino be re-elected?
In any other business, Infantino would be unlikely to hold his position. But football is not a "normal" business.
As a reminder, Blatter was re-elected a week before resigning in 2015, when he had no chance left due to a corruption scandal.
Infantino is expected to continue fighting to stay in charge. The regret could make all this go away. And it may be coming. Even Morocco, which is hosting the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal, has offered its support. Egypt praised Infantino for scrapping the plan.
His support was too great for too long. And he has time to repair some of the damage. The more time that passes, the more likely Infantino is to convince his former allies that what happened this week was simply a diversion.
For UEFA, the BBC writes, the question is whether it can create a situation where Infantino has no choice but to resign.
For this to happen, criticism from federations around the world must continue.
Infantino could be further harmed if major sponsors distance themselves from the world football organization.
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UEFA could still boycott World Cup despite FIFA's support for Infantino
During the FIFA scandal in 2015, major companies such as Sony, Emirates, Castrol, Continental Tyres and Johnson & Johnson cut sponsorship deals.
There are no signs of this. But developments will most likely go beyond this dramatic week.
