Infantino confirms fourth-term bid as UEFA pressure and World Cup sell-off backlash intensifies

Gianni Infantino will seek a fourth term as FIFA president, world football’s governing body confirmed, doubling down on his position despite sustained pressure from UEFA and its member associations — including the English FA — to step aside.

FIFA issued a statement reaffirming what Infantino had first declared in April. “The FIFA president announced in April that he will stand for re-election in 2027,” the statement read. “Of course, nothing has changed. Mr Infantino will be standing for re-election.”

The announcement comes after Infantino’s aborted plan to sell commercial stakes in the World Cup triggered a fierce backlash across European football. UEFA has called on him to stand down, and the dispute has since escalated into legal territory: last week UEFA filed papers in a US court requesting disclosure of documents from FIFA, warning it could also lodge a criminal complaint in Switzerland. FIFA, in turn, accused UEFA of running a “smear campaign against it and its leadership.”

Infantino was in Katowice, Poland, this weekend attending the women’s under-20 World Cup, where he signalled he had more to say on the controversy — but not yet. “There will be a lot to say,” he told reporters on Saturday, “but it’s not today.”

Under FIFA’s statutes, a president may serve a maximum of four terms. Should Infantino win the March election, he would remain in office until 2031. Candidates must lodge their nominations by 18 November.

The confirmation that Infantino intends to run will disappoint those within European football who had hoped the World Cup sell-off fallout would force him out and open the door to a new candidate. With UEFA now pursuing legal avenues and internal FIFA pressure also mounting, the battle over the organisation’s leadership looks set to intensify well before polling day.