UEFA remains focused on finding a credible candidate to challenge FIFA President Gianni Infantino in next March’s election, vice-president Laura McAllister said on Wednesday.
McAllister said the candidate does not have to be European but must have the ability to defeat Infantino, unite football’s confederations and deliver lasting governance reform.
Speaking to Reuters at the World Football Summit in Madrid, she rejected suggestions that opposition to Infantino had lost momentum. She said UEFA was taking its campaign step by step and working towards an alternative candidate and a clear reform programme.
“I don’t think so,” McAllister said when asked whether Infantino’s opponents had overestimated the damage to his authority.
She added: “We always knew that things wouldn’t just change overnight. That would be naive. We knew that there would be a resistance to change as well, of course.”
The dispute intensified after Infantino’s plan to sell up to 20% of FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors collapsed. UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF have called for change at FIFA, while several European associations have withdrawn support for Infantino’s re-election.
McAllister said UEFA nations remained “united and very concerted” but stressed that the campaign was about more than one person.
“This was always about more than one person,” she said.
She said the eventual candidate should present a manifesto focused on reform and modernisation, with greater transparency, accountability, recognition of conflicts of interest, stronger whistleblower protection and more diverse leadership.
McAllister said UEFA would support a challenger from another confederation if that person offered a credible reform programme.
“This is about the programme of change, and I think we have to get that right first,” she said.
Infantino has confirmed he will seek another term in March. McAllister said his opponents must therefore find a candidate capable of mounting a winning challenge.
“You don’t fight an election unless you can win that election.”
Do you think football governance reform should be the main focus of the FIFA election?
