According to the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, reported on August 1 local time, UEFA is looking for a candidate to replace Infantino as FIFA president. It was previously reported that Infantino had proposed a plan to sell some commercial rights of the World Cup to private investors. If he refuses to resign, UEFA intends to remove him through a vote of no confidence.
Regarding the 'World Cup privatization plan', both UEFA, CONCACAF, AFC, and CONMEBOL all rejected this idea, leading to Ventura giving up the project.
UEFA believes that the candidate to replace Vanetti should be a "unity-oriented figure" who can gain support from countries across continents. According to The Daily Telegraph, UEFA is not considering European candidates, as they believe such candidates would not receive enough votes.
Currently, potential competitors mentioned include Victor Montagliani, the president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football Associations. Another potential candidate is Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the president of the Asian Football Confederation, who lost to Inzaghi by a narrow margin in the 2016 elections.
The 56-year-old Gianni Infantino was elected president of FIFA in 2016. This Italian replaced Swiss Jürgen Klinsmann, who resigned due to several corruption scandals within FIFA. In both 2019 and 2023, Infantino was re-elected as FIFA president without any competitors. The next election for FIFA president is scheduled to take place in Rabat, Morocco, in March of next year.
