UEFA on track to find credible challenger to Infantino

UEFA remains on course to find a credible challenger to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and has not allowed its campaign for change to dissolve into wishful thinking, Vice-president Laura McAllister said on Wednesday.

McAllister said the candidate for next March’s election need not be European but must be capable of ‌defeating Infantino, uniting football’s confederations and delivering lasting governance reform.

Speaking to Reuters at the World Football Summit in Madrid after UEFA’s Executive Committee met in Thessaloniki, she rejected suggestions that opposition to Infantino had lost momentum despite the FIFA president appearing to retain enough support to win another term.

UEFA’s efforts were not about installing a European figurehead to lead a rebellion, she said, but building support for a candidate with a clear reform programme.

Swiss Italian Infantino, 56, faced the biggest challenge to his presidency following the collapse of his proposal to sell a stake of up to 20 per cent in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors.

The plan prompted fierce opposition, with UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF among those calling for change at the top of FIFA. Several European national associations have since withdrawn their support for Infantino’s re-election, with Greece becoming the latest on Tuesday.

McAllister said UEFA nations remained “united and very concerted” in their determination to change the way FIFA is governed, but stressed that the dispute went beyond Infantino.

“This was always about more than one person,” she said.

McAllister said UEFA had been working quietly on several fronts and regarded the reform platform as more important than the identity or nationality of the eventual candidate.

“There’s lots of prongs to any campaign to change something,” she said.

“There’s tactics that you need to follow, but ​I feel very reassured that we’re on track, that we will try to find a candidate that can unite all of the confederations, because it’s not just UEFA; all of the confederations feel strongly about the ‌need for change.

“And ⁠that candidate would then stand on a manifesto of reform and modernisation.”

Infantino has announced that he will seek another term at the election in March. McAllister said his opponents must find a candidate capable of doing more than mounting a symbolic challenge.

“If you’re in a position where you know the incumbent will be standing again, and Gianni Infantino has made it clear that he will be a candidate in the election unless something changes in the time before next March, then it’s incumbent on those who oppose him to get the right candidate,” she said.

“You don’t fight an election unless you can win that election.”

McAllister said UEFA would ⁠not insist on a European challenger if a credible reform candidate emerged from another confederation.

McAllister said the reform programme should include greater accountability and transparency, proper recognition of conflicts of interest, stronger ⁠protection for whistleblowers and more diverse leadership.

Asked whether UEFA could maintain a working relationship with Infantino if he were re-elected, McAllister said European football would remain a powerful force in the global game, but that FIFA’s leadership should learn from what has happened.

McAllister said UEFA would focus on making the case for reform rather than looking too far ahead before nominations had opened.-Reuters

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