Infantino stirs widespread outrage as UEFA tightens its grip! Is the world football landscape being reshaped?

By Han Bing Eleven years ago, FIFA's leadership, headed by Blatter, was nearly completely toppled by corruption cases, leading to a restructuring of world football's governance. Now, eleven years later, Infantino, who is greedier and more unscrupulous, faces the same fate as his predecessor after pushing FIFA's "commercialization" plan following the World Cup hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico.

UEFA not only joined forces with CONCACAF and the AFC to unanimously reject the "commercialization" plan that would overturn world football, but also made removing Infantino its ultimate goal. The world football scene is in flux. Halting Infantino's "commercialization" plan and restoring normalcy is just the first step; the ultimate goal is to oust Infantino and completely reshape the governance structure of world football. The greedy Infantino will lose not only his wishful "commercialization" scheme and get-rich-quick plan, but possibly all the power he needs to realize his personal ambitions.

Is this really a "change of regime" for FIFA?

The trigger for this upheaval is precisely Infantino's stubbornly pushed FIFA "commercialization" plan. Ten years ago, when he moved from UEFA Secretary General to FIFA President, Infantino promised to make FIFA a reliable, credible, and transparent international football governing body. Unfortunately, in recent years, Infantino has far exceeded his predecessor Blatter in greed and autocracy. Moreover, in deeply binding FIFA to politics, Infantino has completely crossed the line. Blatter merely accepted bribes to "sell" World Cup hosting rights, while Infantino has turned FIFA into a puppet of US President Donald Trump.

The friction between UEFA and Infantino has a long history. From his forceful push to expand the World Cup to 48 teams, to the backdoor deal to designate the 2030 and 2034 World Cup hosts, Infantino has completely abandoned his promises upon taking office. Since Infantino fully aligned himself with Trump, his relationship with UEFA has rapidly deteriorated. During the World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico, there were countless instances of the US's crude interference in the tournament, starting from visa denials for World Cup participants and deliberately targeting the Iranian team, to the "pardon" of a red card for US forward Balogun. These incidents not only made the tournament highly controversial but also pushed UEFA's patience to the limit.

The last straw was Infantino's private dealings with the Trump family capital, pushing through the FIFA "commercialization" plan without any FIFA board procedures. Just like the European Super League five years ago, UEFA immediately launched a full-scale counterattack, joining forces with CONCACAF and the AFC to force Infantino to halt this farce.

But this incident is certainly not something that can be resolved by simply withdrawing a motion. During his tenure, Infantino has repeatedly unilaterally pushed major FIFA initiatives. This time, he has finally crossed the bottom line of most continental confederations and associations. FIFA's reputation has been tarnished for becoming a "puppet" of Trump, falling to its lowest point since the Blatter corruption scandal. As the British Guardian put it: Infantino has completely destroyed FIFA's integrity and governance transparency. Every extra day he remains in the FIFA presidency is a new stain on this football governing body already at rock bottom.

Thus, UEFA's official statement on August 1 stated: Those responsible must be identified and held accountable. Ending the "commercialization" plan is only one victory, not "the end of the story."

UEFA, having reached the end of its patience, is determined not to give Infantino any chance to continue his reckless behavior. The British Telegraph revealed that UEFA has issued an ultimatum to the besieged and abandoned Infantino: either resign voluntarily or face an emergency impeachment initiated by UEFA. According to FIFA statutes, an impeachment motion against the FIFA president can be launched with the joint signature of 43 associations. UEFA has 55 associations, and they had previously unanimously agreed to boycott all FIFA competitions until the "commercialization" plan was rescinded. This time, it is believed that UEFA's member associations will act in unison, and an impeachment motion can be filed at any time.

Moreover, UEFA has also received strong support from CONCACAF, which has also expressed support for accountability. In the very short term, Infantino and UEFA are engaged in a race against time — a "decisive battle." Infantino is working to quickly persuade smaller and medium-sized associations to agree to expand the World Cup to 64 teams, in exchange for more support and to win the FIFA presidential election in March next year. UEFA, on the other hand, hopes to complete the impeachment process as soon as possible, convincing a majority of associations to oust Infantino and bring FIFA back on track.

If Infantino refuses to resign or the impeachment motion fails, UEFA has a backup plan: to completely break away from FIFA and join with other continental confederations to establish a new world football governing body and organize a new World Cup. Ironically, this plan was personally drafted by Infantino himself ten years ago when he was UEFA's Secretary General. At that time, the plan was never made public and was shelved by UEFA. Now, UEFA may use Infantino's own plan to defeat him.

Regardless of whether Infantino resigns, is impeached, or UEFA goes its own way, the governance structure of world football will undergo earth-shaking changes. Whether the World Cup can be expanded to 64 teams remains uncertain, but the probability of Infantino being ousted is high. The huge shift in world football governance is now an inevitable trend. For world football, FIFA's "change of regime" will surely bring a new atmosphere. At least, there will be no more crude interference that violates the basic rules and ethics of football. Football should return to its proper track, not become a puppet of power politics and private capital.