A “climate of fear” could totally stop national associations from challenging Gianni Infantino’s bid for a *fourth* term as Fifa president. That’s what Miguel Maduro, the former chair of Fifa’s governance committee, is flat out claiming. This isn’t some minor beef; Maduro, who Infantino himself appointed back in 2016 to reform Fifa after all those corruption scandals under Sepp Blatter, is saying the three-term limit in Fifa’s statutes is crystal clear and should be used to block Infantino from even standing next year.
The Rules Are Clear, But Who’s Gonna Speak Up?
Maduro’s not just making noise; he knows the game. He was actually dismissed by Infantino in 2017 after challenging Russia’s Vitaly Mutko’s appointment to the Fifa Council. So yeah, he’s got a history of speaking truth to power. Infantino’s position looked shaky over the summer after details about a private investor plan for the World Cup dropped, and get this, it was developed without the Fifa Council or national associations even knowing about it. Wild, right? But now, Infantino seems pretty set for re-election, pulling support from most associations across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America. Maduro has been working with campaign group FairSquare, helping them draft a letter to Fifa’s governance, audit, and compliance committee, directly questioning Infantino’s eligibility to stand again. Now, he’s backing their latest move, urging national associations to declare Infantino ineligible. But he’s seriously worried that many won’t act. Why? Because “whoever acts on their own and challenges and shows a dissenting voice, or shows even that they have an opinion of their own, gets ostracised, gets set aside, loses influence in the framework of power of Fifa.” That’s heavy, and it tells you everything about the pressure these associations are under.
Term Limits, Backroom Deals, and a Chairman’s Friendship
It gets even more complicated when you look at Europe. European associations might be hesitant to challenge Infantino because they agreed to a change to UEFA’s statutes in 2024 that let their incumbent, Aleksander Ceferin, stand again next year. Maduro acknowledged the contradiction in spirit there, but he pointed out a key difference: UEFA *changed* their rule. In Fifa’s case, the three-term limit is *still in the rules*. So, it’s not the same thing at all. Fifa, for its part, tried to wave this away in 2022, saying a decision by the Fifa Council right before the World Cup final had discounted Infantino’s first three-year term, supposedly clearing him to stand in 2027. Convenient, much? To top it all off, the committee that’s supposed to determine Infantino’s eligibility for next year’s election is chaired by Bruno Chiomento, a guy who’s known Infantino for more than two decades. Seriously? European members of the Fifa Council have already asked Fifa to consider recusing Chiomento and finding a replacement because of that relationship.
So, what’s next? If Fifa’s electoral committee does clear Infantino, Maduro said national associations could still take the fight to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and even the Swiss Federal Tribunal beyond that. The battle for Fifa’s integrity is far from over, and it’s going to be a wild ride watching who, if anyone, steps up to challenge the status quo.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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