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Norway files two complaints with FIFA as UEFA calls again for Gianni Infantino to go
Norway has lodged two complaints with FIFA and UEFA has repeated its loss of confidence in Gianni Infantino, five months before the presidential election in Rabat.
by Lucas Morel · 2 min read
The Norwegian Football Federation filed two complaints with FIFA on Tuesday. The first asks the ethics committee to examine the conduct of the FIFA president and other officials against the ethics code; the second puts governance rules, financial and internal controls and decision-making processes before the audit and compliance commission.
Three files are targeted: the Peace Prize awarded to Donald Trump in December, the lifting of Folarin Balogun’s suspension during the World Cup, and the FIFA Forward Enterprise project, since abandoned. For the federation, these cases amount to “an abusive use of the powers and influence of FIFA”.
Berlin repeats the call, still with no name
The 55 presidents of Europe’s national associations met in Berlin on Thursday. The statement published after the meeting says member associations “have reiterated that they have lost confidence in the current leadership of FIFA”, and that FIFA also needs “new leadership”, “a respected and unifying figure, deeply rooted in football”. In the same meeting, Aleksander Ceferin announced he would stand for a fourth term as UEFA president.
The name of a challenger to Infantino is still missing. According to RMC Sport, UEFA does not want a European in the race at all: Nasser Al-Khelaifi has ruled himself out, and Victor Montagliani and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa are not expected to run either. The confederation might prefer to field nobody, rather than turn the election into a formality.
106 votes, and the clock running
The election takes place at the FIFA congress on 18 March 2027 in Rabat: 211 associations vote, 106 votes are enough for re-election, and a candidacy needs the backing of five of them, filed by 18 November at the latest. Gianni Infantino, 56, has run FIFA since 2016 and is holding his course: by RMC Sport’s count of public declarations, he already holds between 90 and 95 votes, with the backing of the African associations, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. FIFA had not reacted publicly by Thursday evening.
One candidate did come forward on Wednesday: Ramon Vega, the former Tottenham defender capped 23 times by Switzerland, one week after the Swiss association withdrew its support from Infantino. The revolt now has its complaints, its statement and a name. What remains is the hard part: 106 votes by 18 March.