FIFA Election Timeline Comes Into Focus: Term-Limit Dispute, Nov 18 Deadline, Named Challengers

As the governance crisis over Infantino's abandoned World Cup stake-sale plan entered its fourth week, attention turned to the mechanics of unseating him. FIFA presidents are limited to three four-year terms, but Infantino argues his 2016 start — completing Sepp Blatter's interrupted mandate after Blatter's corruption-driven exit — should not count as a full term, a reading the FIFA Council backed in a Dec 2022 Doha ruling. Advocacy group FairSquare has formally asked FIFA's Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee to declare Infantino ineligible, arguing the statutes contain 'no provision for a presidential term to be discounted' and that the 2022 ruling 'clearly violates the letter and purpose' of FIFA's term-limit rule. Any rival candidate needs nominations from at least 5 member federations and must declare by the Nov 18, 2026 deadline; the vote is set for the 77th FIFA Congress in Rabat on March 18, 2027, where 106 of 211 member-association votes are needed to win. Potential challengers named by federations and media include CONCACAF's Victor Montagliani (seen as the most concrete possibility), AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (who lost to Infantino in 2016), and PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, though Al-Khelaifi has said he has 'no ambition, intention or interest' in the job. CAF (led by Patrice Motsepe), CONMEBOL, Mexico, and Argentina continue to back Infantino, while UEFA's 55 member federations have broadly aligned against him alongside the AFC and CONCACAF.