Gianni Infantino faces a clear path toward reelection as FIFA president after Concacaf president Victor Montagliani informed colleagues that he will seek to retain his position with the confederation next year, sources confirmed to ESPN. The move disqualifies him from any bid to replace Infantino. Montagliani, the former head of the Canadian Soccer Federation, had emerged as the most likely candidate to challenge Infantino following controversy over the Swiss-Italian's plan to raise $20 billion through a partial sell-off of FIFA competitions, including the men's World Cup.
Infantino abandoned that plan, announced in July, within days after widespread anger across the global game. UEFA threatened to boycott all FIFA competitions in protest, and UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation all publicly voiced opposition to Infantino, who had appeared set to run uncontested, 10 years after succeeding the discredited Sepp Blatter.
Despite Montagliani, a FIFA vice president, being regarded as the best candidate to beat Infantino in March, sources say the 61-year-old has chosen to seek a final four-year term leading the body that represents North and Central America and the Caribbean. He told fellow officials at a workshop earlier this month. News of his plans was first reported by The Guardian.
The decision is a huge blow to those determined to force Infantino out, and his leading opponents, primarily UEFA, must now find a credible challenger before the Nov. 18 deadline for candidacy submissions. ESPN reported last week that Infantino was growing confident of securing the 106 votes needed from FIFA's 211 members. Ramon Vega, the former Switzerland and Tottenham defender, has said he is ready to challenge Infantino, but he has not held an active football role for at least two of the past five years and therefore cannot stand.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing