July 31 (Reuters) – North American football chief Victor Montagliani is “making moves” towards challenging Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency in next March’s election, The i Paper reported on Friday, citing sources.
The report comes amid growing scrutiny of Infantino, who is facing the first significant challenge to his leadership after FIFA’s proposal to sell a stake in the World Cup drew widespread opposition from major regional confederations.
Infantino said in April he would seek a fourth term as FIFA president, with the election for the 2027-2031 cycle scheduled to take place in Morocco on March 18 next year.
The Swiss-Italian executive had enjoyed strong backing from national federations until this week when plans to create a $20-billion subsidiary linked to football’s flagship tournament triggered a shift in sentiment among some stakeholders.
Reuters has contacted CONCACAF for comment.
At a meeting on Thursday, CONCACAF’s 41 member associations rejected FIFA’s proposal but stopped short of backing UEFA’s call for a boycott, while the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) said it would review the plan before deciding its position.
The North American, Central American and Caribbean confederation said members had expressed “deep concerns” over the lack of due process, a compressed timeline and the absence of review or approval by FIFA’s relevant governance bodies.
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
