Infantino's opponents are looking for a credible figure for the FIFA elections

With the widening of the circle of Infantino's opponents, the FIFA presidential election enters a new phase.

According to Ambassador Arjan, the opponents of Johnny Infantino, the president of the World Football Federation (FIFA), have become more hopeful of finding a candidate to compete with him in the presidential elections of this institution next March. Although a common option has not yet been announced by the opposition, a number of senior European football managers and several national federations believe that Infantino may face a serious challenger for the first time in the upcoming elections.

One of the presidents of the European football federations has said that he is optimistic about the introduction of the rival candidate. This assessment has been repeated by some senior figures of the European Football Union (UEFA) and officials of national federations on the eve of the important meeting of the FIFA Council.

Uefa, the Confederation of North, Central and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have announced their opposition to Infantino's re-election following the controversy surrounding the transfer of commercial rights to the World Cup. However, these three institutions have not yet been able to agree on a credible and jointly supported candidate; That too in the situation that the deadline for sending nominations to FIFA is set on November 18 (Aban 27).

Who might be Infantino's rival?

UEFA president Alexander Ceferin, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani and AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa have all ruled out running for office. Also, speculations about the possibility of Arsene Wenger, the former head coach of Arsenal, or Michel Kang, the owner of clubs including London City Lions, have also been abandoned.

The name of Luis Figo, the former star of the Portuguese national football team, has also been mentioned as a possible option. Figo was the first former player to call for Infantino's resignation in August. However, he is also mentioned as one of the possible options for the presidency of UEFA after the end of Ceferin's last term in 2031.

Although the known options are limited, sources familiar with the plans of Infantino's opponents say negotiations are progressing. According to one of the sources, the finalist will likely not make his decision public until close to the filing deadline. The purpose of this approach is to reduce the time available to FIFA to create an obstacle in the way of registering his candidacy.

Infantino's opponents also believe that FIFA's administrative and organizational mechanism is using its capacities to support the re-election of the current president. However, the name of the possible candidate and the details of the agreement between the opposition have not been officially announced yet.

FIFA Council meeting; A chance for Infantino to answer

The meeting of the FIFA Council can also affect the future of these disputes. Infantino is expected to explain some controversial issues in front of 37 council members; including the suspended project of "Fifa Forward Development Company" and the case of Folarin Balogun, the striker of the American national football team. Balogun's case is related to the FIFA disciplinary committee's decision to cancel the player's one-session ban during the World Cup.

To avoid repeated criticism of the disciplinary committee's decision, Infantino has proposed an amendment that would remove the authority to overturn one-match suspensions for players who receive a straight red card. This proposal was made following the controversy related to the Balogun case.

The president of FIFA has also promised to present a full report on the FFE plan at the Zurich meeting; A plan that had previously become one of the main points of disagreement between him and a number of football managers. However, contrary to the usual practice, this report was not made available to the members of the council before the meeting.

March elections in the shadow of differences

The FIFA presidential election is scheduled to be held on March 18 (March 27) at the organization's congress in Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Until the end of the nomination registration deadline, Infantino's opponents must not only find an acceptable face for the various federations, but also gain the necessary support to form an electoral coalition.

In the current situation, no competing candidates have been officially announced, but the increasing criticism and efforts to coordinate between the confederations show that the possible competition for the presidency of FIFA could become one of the important topics of world football in the coming months.