FIFA president Gianni Infantino came under renewed fire on Monday as a joint letter from three confederations – UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC – declared football "belongs to no individual".

Infantino has been the butt of scathing criticism ever since launching, and then withdrawing within days, a plan to bring private investment into FIFA competitions, including World Cups.

FIFA had hit back on Saturday at "a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine" football's governing body and Infantino.

However, Monday's letter from the governing bodies of European football (UEFA), North and Central America (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC), showed his critics are unbowed. 

"Leadership in football is not a possession," the statement read. "It is not about holding – or demanding – power to be held. It is a duty of service to the football family that entrusts it."

"When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned."

The idea of carving off the commercial rights to the World Cup, and selling 20% of them to private investors to raise about $4.2 billion, caused open revolt in the football world against Infantino. 

Sources close to proceedings said the confederations viewed this letter as an opportunity for Infantino, who is seeking re-election next year, to quit with his dignity intact.

The Swiss has been FIFA chief since 2016, when predecessor Sepp Blatter was ousted amid criminal proceedings over corruption allegations. Infantino was subsequently re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023. 

Although FIFA has a maximum of three terms per president, in 2023 the FIFA Council ruled that his first three years didn't count towards this as they did not represent a full term, opening the door for a final campaign in 2027. 

On Friday, Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) President Lise Klaveness, a long-term critic of Infantino who is seen by some as a potential candidate to replace him, called on the Swiss to step down from the presidency immediately. 

Pressure ahead of 2027 FIFA leadership election

Although the statement stopped just short of openly calling for a new leadership, the three confederations have been vociferous in their condemnation of Infantino's plan and had not let up after it was shelved.

CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani is viewed as a potential challenger to Infantino, who will seek a fourth and final term at the FIFA presidential election in Rabat next March.

Candidates have to be declared by November 18.

UEFA's threat to boycott World Cups if the private investment plan went ahead – which would in theory deprive the competitions of many of their leading teams, including three of the four semi-finalists in each of the last men's and women's World Cups – proved pivotal in Infantino withdrawing his plan.

The three signatory confederations are investigating the possibility of staging competitions among themselves to give players the chance to compete amid the ongoing crisis with FIFA, sources said.

Prior to this debacle Infantino had looked likely to be unopposed, after overseeing a successful – if frequently controversial – World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The 56-year-old Swiss has received the backing of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), while members of South American governing body CONMEBOL are largely supportive.

The confederations do not vote as blocs and there have been some supportive voices for Infantino from CONCACAF, Mexico, and two AFC members – Kuwait and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, where he has a house.

Although the proposal has been dead in the water for over a week now – UEFA had termed it "a shabby, opaque, backroom deal" – the confederations harangued him for a lack of judgment.

"FIFA's recent letter to its Vice-Presidents and 211 Member Associations acknowledges that mistakes were made in the process," they said.

"It treats this as a failure of communication, when what football witnessed was a failure of judgment."

'Profound failure of judgement'

Although Infantino had received the "full support" of senior FIFA directors last week in an emergency meeting he called in Morocco, the confederations said the meeting was meaningless as there was only one elected official present.

The confederations also called for an independent review which FIFA would have no role in, to determine what led to this "profound failure of judgement."

"This recent meeting, where a select number of members of the FIFA Management Committee – not the full Committee – were summoned abroad, rather than leadership going to Zurich to address the heart of FIFA, its staff, only reinforces these concerns and represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment," they said.

"It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him." 

Infantino had been basking in the afterglow of a successful World Cup – the largest ever involving 48 teams. However, the signatory confederations made clear in the letter that it was not just Infantino who had made this possible.

"The growth over the past decade has been real," they said. "But that progress was never the work of one individual.

"It was the product of FIFA, the Confederations, the Member Associations, and the thousands of people who dedicate their lives to the game.

"The expanded tournaments, the awarding of the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups, the distribution of resources to associations. These were shared achievements, agreed together, delivered together."

The confederations signed off their letter by claiming that under Infantino's leadership "there is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness".

They added: "That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve. Football's strength has always been its unity."

FIFA fights back 

After quelling in-house dissent at the emergency meeting on Wednesday, FIFA apologized to the 211 federations and Infantino rallied his support among the six confederations that make up the world governing body.

Africa's confederation CAF released a statement on behalf of its 54 members backing Infantino on Thursday with CONCACAF member Mexico following suit along with South American countries Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador and Bolivia.

On Friday, as Infantino attended the inauguration of Colombia's new president Abelardo De La Espriella in Cali, FIFA released a blistering attack on the critics of the president.

It warned against what it called a "concerted and ongoing effort" to undermine Infantino, saying attempts to challenge his leadership must follow the governing body's statutes and democratic procedures.

FIFA also echoed the statements of several of the bodies that supported Infantino, as well as one from South American confederation CONMEBOL.

FIFA's statement came after reports by UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph about payments made by UEFA to a former employee during Infantino's time as the European governing body's general secretary, allegations he has denied and that FIFA has rejected as unfounded.

Almost 70 of FIFA's 211 member associations have said publicly they will vote for Infantino in next year's election, with around a dozen either withdrawing previously promised support or saying they will not vote for him. Infantino would need a two-thirds majority in the first round of voting or a simple majority in subsequent rounds to extend his presidency.

UEFA apart, the confederations who say they have lost confidence in Infantino are not completely united with several Asian nations backing him as well as Mexico from CONCACAF.

Frequent controversy 

Infantino's presidency has frequently caused controversy. Within months of his election, he was investigated (and exonerated) by FIFA's Ethics Committee; UK newspaper The Guardian wrote that he later dismissed the committee's independent chairmen.

In 2020, the Swiss Special Federal Public Prosecutor commenced criminal proceedings against Infantino during an investigation into corruption in international football. Infantino denied all charges.

In December 2025, Infantino unilaterally decided to create the FIFA Peace Prize for US President Donald Trump, who had earlier waged a long and unsuccessful public campaign to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

During the 2026 World Cup, Trump revealed that he had personally lobbied Infantino to overturn a suspension for US player Folarin Balogun. Balogun's ban was subsequently suspended for a year, although Infantino denied any involvement in the decision. 

Infantino has regularly sought to expand the competitions under his aegis. When at UEFA, he expanded the quadrennial European Championships from 16 to 24 teams; at FIFA he expanded the Club World Cup from 7 to 32 teams, the women's World Cup from 24 to 32 teams and the men's World Cup from 32 to 48. He also wanted to double the frequency of the men's World Cup to every two years, before retreating under a fierce UEFA-led backlash.