FIFA president Gianni Infantino has summoned his top chiefs to a crunch crisis meeting today as he fights to save his job following the explosive fallout from his botched private equity deal. The embattled FIFA boss has called an emergency summit with senior leadership in Morocco in a desperate bid to shore up his position.
Controversial plan scrapped
It comes after he secretly hatched a highly controversial scheme to spin off the governing body's commercial operations into a new subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise. The project aimed to sell a 20 per cent stake in the commercial and tournament rights of the World Cup to private investors. Although a fierce global backlash and threats of a massive boycott from UEFA forced Infantino into a humiliating climbdown to scrap the proposal last week, furious football leaders insist the damage is done.
While Infantino uses today's crisis talks in Rabat to try and stabilise his reign and cling to power, an outraged European football establishment is at open war with him and exploring two distinct legal avenues to force him out.
Two routes to oust Infantino
The first option being discussed is triggering an emergency vote of no confidence. Under official FIFA statutes, an extraordinary Congress can be called if requested by at least 20 per cent of member associations - equating to 43 of FIFA's 211 global members. With UEFA alone boasting 55 member associations, European football easily clears that threshold on its own to force a congress within three months. However, actually ousting Infantino at the meeting would still require a simple majority of all 211 global members, where every nation holds a single vote regardless of size.
The second option - and a far more explosive route to remove Infantino - is through formal disciplinary action. FIFA's independent Ethics Committee has the authority to investigate alleged breaches of the FIFA Code of Ethics and hand down severe sanctions, including lengthy bans from all football-related activities. This is the exact mechanism that brought down former president Sepp Blatter in 2015. Whilst no official ethics investigation has been opened yet, a lengthy ban remains the ultimate nuclear option to force him out immediately.
What happens next
If Infantino is ousted before his term ends, FIFA's Governance Regulations state the longest-serving vice president would take temporary charge until Congress elects a replacement. The next official presidential election is scheduled for March 18, 2027, with nominations closing on November 18. Infantino had previously been expected to win by a landslide but after pushing the game to the brink, he may find today's crisis summit marks the beginning of the end.
