Infantino’s FIFA World Cup fallout: Lamour exits after criticism of plan

Although he retains the support of the African and South American confederations, the powerful European confederation UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and CONCACAF are ranged in opposition to the 56-year-old Swiss supremo.

Human rights in sport organisation FairSquare confirmed on Monday it had written to FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC), urging that Infantino be ruled ineligible to seek another term as president.

Backlash puts Infantino’s FIFA presidency under pressure

While FIFA presidents are limited to three terms, Infantino successfully argued in 2022 that his first stint in office from 2016 to 2019 ⁠should not count towards that limit because it completed an interrupted mandate.

Infantino was initially elected at an Extraordinary Congress following the resignation ⁠of Sepp Blatter against the backdrop of a corruption scandal. He was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.

“The complaint we have filed provides clear evidence that this is a clear breach of the rules and one that sets a very dangerous precedent,” FairSquare director Nicholas McGeehan told the Reuters news agency.

“The rules state clearly that three presidential terms is the maximum allowed. FIFA can’t simply circumvent this rule – which serves as a check on presidential power – by ⁠saying that his first term doesn’t count.”

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

Last week, UEFA, the AFC and CONCACAF. It runs football in the Caribbean, North and Central America, urged an independent review of Infantino’s conduct.

Sources with knowledge of ⁠the situation said the three confederations viewed the letter as an opportunity for Infantino to quit with his ⁠dignity intact.

FairSquare’s letter to the GACC was drafted with the assistance of Miguel Maduro, the former head of FIFA’s independent Governance and Review Committee. This person said the governing body could not disregard its own rules.

“The principle of term limits was a fundamental aspect ‌of the 2016 reform aimed at limiting power and the rule introduced is clear: no FIFA President can serve more than three terms of office,” Maduro said in an official note.

“Trying to carve out an exception to such a rule for Mr Infantino reveals both a resistance to the principle of term limits and how some at FIFA conceive of ‌rules ‌not as rules but as obstacles to be circumvented.”

A FairSquare complaint to the International Olympic Committee over Infantino’s alleged breach of the body’s rules on political neutrality because of his backing for United States President Donald Trump was rejected last month. Infantino has been an IOC member since 2020.