Infantino faces a no-confidence vote as UEFA sets the bar
UEFA has publicly called for the FIFA president to step down and spelled out the route: Article 25 of the statutes, 43 of 211 associations for an extraordinary congress, 106 votes to remove him.
Until this week the number 43 meant nothing to anyone outside FIFA headquarters in Zurich. Since August 1, 2026, it is the figure standing between Gianni Infantino and an extraordinary congress that could cost him his job.
That is how many national associations, exactly one fifth of the 211 members, Article 25 of the FIFA statutes requires before such a congress can be called. UEFA alone speaks for 55. The arithmetic was settled before the statement even went out.
European football’s governing body asked the FIFA president to go, the first time it has done so in public, and immediately laid out what happens if he refuses.
“The current FIFA leadership has lost not only the confidence of UEFA, but the confidence of many other members of the football family.”
The same statement explains why patience ran out now: “We cannot go on like this, with secretive moves that get withdrawn at astonishing speed.” UEFA added that no option should be ruled out.
Do 43 associations mean Infantino is gone?
No, and that is the distinction most easily missed. Those 43 signatures open the door rather than knock it down. The request has to be submitted in writing, and the congress must then be held within three months.
Removing the president requires an absolute majority of valid votes, meaning 106 of 211. Sitting between those two numbers are roughly sixty associations nobody has counted out loud yet. UEFA has the hands to call the meeting, not the hands to win it on its own.
The plan 143 associations killed
All of this started with a project called FIFA Forward Enterprise. It would have handed around 20 percent of the commercial rights to FIFA competitions, the World Cup included, to private investors led by the fund Thrive Eternal. The fund was founded by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Associations backing the plan were promised up to 20 million dollars in additional funding, with a September 19 deadline. 143 national associations came out against it:
- all 55 from UEFA
- 47 from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
- 41 from CONCACAF
We covered that on August 1, the day Infantino pulled the proposal. It looked like the withdrawal closed the matter. A day later it turned out to be an opening move instead.
Where everyone stands
CONCACAF went past a simple rejection and demanded a full review of FIFA’s leadership. The English and Welsh associations joined the pressure. The Telegraph reported the ultimatum first, writing that every UEFA member is ready to vote against Infantino.
On the other side, the Qatari and Moroccan associations backed the president publicly even after the proposal was dropped. Qatar’s federation is led by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, Morocco’s by Fouzi Lekjaa. Their votes at a congress count exactly as much as the European ones, one each, and that is the only advantage Infantino has left.
What comes next
The September 19 deadline is now empty, because the project it was meant to fund no longer exists. What remains is the list of associations that declared themselves along the way, and that list now serves a different purpose.
The FIFA presidential election is scheduled for 2027, with a rival candidacy possible. Infantino has held the post since 2016 and has yet to face a serious challenger.
The question is no longer whether Europe can find 43 signatures. It has 55. The question is how many associations outside Europe will agree to be part of the number 106, and nobody gets that answer until UEFA formally files its request in Zurich. That filing is the next real date on the calendar.
