UEFA established new battle lines on Tuesday, expressing strong opposition to Balogun’s decision.

European football’s governing body said Fifa had “crossed a red line” and described it as an “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision”.

But this was not the first time that UEFA crossed swords with FIFA.

In May 2025, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin led a group of European delegates who organized a strike during a break in the FIFA Congress.

Infantino had been on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East with Trump and arrived two hours and 17 minutes late.

UEFA has also sought to score political points during the World Cup.

As soon as Artan landed in Somalia last month, UEFA announced that he had been invited to referee the UEFA Super Cup between Paris St-Germain and Aston Villa on August 12.

And throughout this year, UEFA has been keen to point out how cheap tickets for Euro 2028 are compared to the World Cup. It will not introduce breaks to hydrate, or red cards for players who cover their mouths.

Infantino, let us remember, came from UEFA. For many years he was the man who presented the Champions League draws.

He may not be persona non grata there these days (he gave a speech at the UEFA Congress in February), but there is clear friction.

Taking all this into account, Infantino’s position must surely be in doubt?

Otherwise. Infantino is popular with many federations around the world, and much of that is due to FIFA’s development of the game.

Infantino’s Fifa Forward program has funded football projects around the world and created opportunities through the expanded World Cup.

Sixteen more nations now qualify, the vast majority of the confederations with less depth. Europe only got three of the additional spots.

This World Cup has shown that, below the highest level, Asia and Concacaf have a lot of work to do to be competitive.

But Infantino has provided the dream, the hope that nations that have never been able to play in the World Cup before can get there. Like Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.

Despite all the criticism about the 48-team format, Cape Verde had the opportunity to live its dream.

And it will allow less traditional football nations to improve their game and become stronger. And surely that is positive for football around the world?

The trick?

Tournaments like the World Cup and huge ticket prices pay for these projects.

This year, FIFA is expected to raise $9bn (£7.9bn)

UEFA may oppose much of what FIFA and Infantino advocate, but European football is the rich man of the game. To a large extent, it can finance itself.

The rest of the game depends on Infantino and the money generated by FIFA.

There are 211 countries within FIFA. Each gets one vote for the presidency, and it takes 106 to win an election.

Let’s look at the math.

In April, Conmebol – the South American confederation – said its 10 countries would back Infantino.

Three weeks later, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) confirmed the unanimous support of its 54 member federations.

Shortly after, the 47 countries of the Asian Football Confederation followed suit.

Infantino already has 111 votes. It cannot be defeated.

Even if UEFA thought it could assemble a candidate capable of meeting a challenge, the race is already contested.

Infantino was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023. It would take something truly notable for anyone to oppose him, much less beat him in 2027.