UEFA Sets Out Profile of FIFA Presidential Challenger, Still Has No Candidate Before Nov. 18 Deadline

UEFA told the world what kind of person it wants running FIFA. It did not say who.

After a daylong meeting of its 55 member federations in Berlin on Thursday, Oct. 8, the European body said FIFA needs "a respected and unifying figure, deeply rooted in football." It wants someone who "represents FIFA globally and provides leadership without exercising management functions."

The candidate's identity was not discussed. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin will not be it, and the person may not be European. Nominations for the March 18 election in Rabat, Morocco, close on Nov. 18.

What UEFA is asking for

UEFA's statement called for a leader with "the vision and experience to lead, the ability to command confidence across regions and an unequivocal commitment to development, reform, integrity and independence."

Its reform slate also demanded that "appointments and work of FIFA's oversight bodies are protected from presidential or executive interference." One of its suggested reforms was blunter: "No FIFA resources may be used for personal or electoral interests."

That points at specific episodes. FIFA's handling of World Cup red-card and eligibility cases involving Cristiano Ronaldo, U.S. forward Folarin Balogun and Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi has provoked global concern. Questions about Infantino intervening in field-of-play issues date to FIFA inserting Inter Miami into the 2025 Club World Cup when it was not the Major League Soccer champion, and after no clear consultation or process to make the decision.

UEFA also repeated a money promise: a one-off $10 million dividend for every FIFA member, paid from the governing body's reserves. Those reserves stand at close to $6 billion after the men's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

UEFA said all its members backed the reform slate except Azerbaijan, which has pledged its vote to Infantino. One of Infantino's key aides in his globetrotting election campaign is from Azerbaijan.

FIFA Council member Bernd Neuendorf, the German soccer president, said: "I'm not convinced personally that a credible reform process can be achieved under the current FIFA leadership."

How the fight started

The trigger was a plan, revealed in July, to sell stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors. It was secretive and failed within days. It was branded FIFA Forward Enterprise.

In August, Ceferin and the FIFA vice presidents from Asia and North America joined in denouncing Infantino for deception and breach of trust over the sell-off plan. UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said last month: "Somewhere along the way things went too far with FIFA, and we're looking to put things back where they belong."

UEFA's longer-term plans include preparing a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland over possible financial mismanagement in the World Cup sell-off deal. It has asked courts in the United States to authorize discovery of evidence.

Infantino said last month he remains fully committed to leading FIFA. He was elected in 2016, like Ceferin, and is seeking a fourth term through 2031.

The vote math

Europe's 55 federations are more than a quarter of the 211 that vote. Associated Press research suggests Infantino already has about 90 votes pledged, though that was before any opponent is known.

UEFA is not a united bloc. Infantino has promised support from Azerbaijan and Latvia. On Wednesday he met football and government officials in Prague.

The obvious challengers are not stepping forward. Ceferin has long dismissed talk of running himself, and Victor Montagliani is expected to focus on his own re-election at CONCACAF in February. Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaïfi, a close Ceferin ally, ruled himself out last week.

Ceferin did use the Berlin meeting to confirm he will seek a fourth and final UEFA term at the April 22 election in Astana, Kazakhstan. He had said in 2024 he would not stand again.

The one declared challenger

Ramon Vega, 55, the former Switzerland defender who played for Tottenham, Celtic and Watford, said this week he intends to run. He is the first person to publicly declare.

"I am standing to reunite the global football family, deliver genuine and lasting reform, modernise FIFA for the 21st Century, restore stability and credibility, and rebuild the trust that our game urgently needs," Vega said. He works in finance.

Declaring is not the same as qualifying. FIFA rules require a candidate to be nominated by a member association, to have had a recognised role in football for at least two of the past five years, and to pass an eligibility review. It is unclear whether Vega meets that two-in-five-years test. He previously failed to get the required five voting federations to support an application in 2019.

Salman softens

The united front of the three confederations has shown a crack. The BBC reported that Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the Asian Football Confederation president, sent Infantino a letter distancing himself from proposals for an external governance review of FIFA.

Salman proposed an internal working group of the FIFA Council instead. "The issue is not necessarily whether this requires a wholesale redesign of FIFA's governance system," he wrote, according to the BBC. Two months earlier he had joined Ceferin and Montagliani's camp in insisting that any governance review be conducted by a fully independent third party.

Next step

The 37-member FIFA Council meets in Zurich next week. It is the first session since the World Cup private-equity plan was revealed. Ceferin and other soccer leaders will face Infantino across the table there.

After that, the only date that matters is Nov. 18, the deadline to enter the race.