Infantino has no declared challenger as FIFA election deadline approaches

Gianni Infantino has no declared opponent for the FIFA presidency ahead of the 18 November deadline for candidates to come forward, according to reporting published by the Guardian on Tuesday. The election is scheduled for the governing body's congress in March, with Infantino seeking another term despite opposition from several regional confederations.

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Infantino announced his intention to stand at April's congress in Vancouver and reiterated it after attending the opening match of the Under-20 Women's World Cup in Poland earlier this month. The Guardian reported that UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation have called for him to leave, but no challenger has formally entered the contest.

The proposed fourth term is permitted under a change concerning the length of his first period in office. FIFA's statutes limit presidents to three full terms, but Infantino's initial term lasted three years rather than four after he succeeded Sepp Blatter in 2016. He has faced an electoral opponent only once, in that first election, the newspaper reported.

Alongside the election campaign, UEFA is pursuing access to documents concerning FIFA Forward Enterprise, the commercial project abandoned last month. The Guardian said UEFA lodged a 56-page application in US courts in New York, Miami and Colorado in August. UEFA has accused Infantino of criminal mismanagement, but that remains an allegation, not an established finding. The newspaper explicitly reported that there was no evidence of wrongdoing or criminality by any party involved in the proposed deal.

FIFA has opposed the document requests. In a New York submission described by the Guardian, it argued that UEFA was seeking material for a foreign criminal proceeding that did not exist and that UEFA lacked authority to initiate. FIFA also characterised the applications as part of a campaign to damage its leadership rather than evidence of misconduct.

The Guardian reported that an initial court decision was expected in October, with appeals potentially extending the process beyond the nomination deadline. Neither the timing of disclosure nor its outcome is settled. For now, the election timetable and the court proceedings remain separate unresolved issues: Infantino is standing again, while UEFA continues its effort to obtain the commercial records.