Victor Montagliani (Concacaf president) Like Infantino, he was elected in 2016 promising governance reform. A former president of Canada Soccer, Montagliani was heavily involved in the build up to, and delivery of the 2026 World Cup, the first to be hosted by three nations. He is fluent in French, Italian and Spanish, as well as
The quickest route for Infantino’s exit would be for the Swiss to resign, like his predecessor Sepp Blatter did in 2015. But Infantino still retains support and he could try to hold out until March, when he is up for re-election for a fourth and final term as president. What other avenues are open? The
Gianni Infantino’s leadership of Fifa has been publicly questioned by football’s governing bodies in Europe, North and Central America and the Caribbean. Uefa and Concacaf both released statements on Saturday criticising the leadership at the world governing body after Infantino said Fifa would no longer proceed with the proposal to sell stakes in their competitions
Infantino also addressed criticism surrounding the standard of refereeing at the tournament, particularly concerns about political interference after US striker Folarin Balogun was made available for the round of 16 match when FIFA lifted his one-match suspension, following intervention by US President Donald Trump. Of the other 191 red cards shown at a men’s World
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