Former Fifa chair says 'climate of fear' could block challenges to Gianni Infantino's re-election

A climate of fear could prevent national associations from contesting Gianni Infantino ’s eligibility to serve a fourth term as Fifa president, the former chair of its governance committee has claimed. Miguel Maduro, appointed by Infantino in 2016 amid pledges to reform Fifa following corruption scandals under predecessor Sepp Blatter, believes the three-term limit on presidents in Fifa’s statutes is clear and should be cited by associations to block Infantino from standing again next year. Infantino’s position appeared under threat during the summer after details of a private investor plan for the World Cup—developed without the knowledge of the Fifa Council or national associations—emerged. However, he now seems well placed for re-election, drawing support from most associations across Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America. Maduro, who was dismissed by Infantino in 2017 after challenging Russia’s Vitaly Mutko’s appointment to the Fifa Council, has helped campaign group FairSquare draft a letter to Fifa’s governance, audit and compliance (GACC) committee questioning Infantino’s eligibility to stand again. He is now backing its latest move urging national associations to declare him ineligible, but fears many may be reluctant to act. "The fact that they are not (challenging Infantino’s eligibility) tells us a lot of the extent to which the climate is one of fear," he said. Maduro fears there is a ‘climate of fear’ as Infantino seeks a fourth term as president (PA) "We’ve seen that whoever acts on their own and challenges and shows a dissenting voice, or shows even that they have an opinion of their own, gets ostracised, gets set aside, loses influence in the framework of power of Fifa." European associations may also hesitate to challenge Infantino on this issue, having agreed a change to Uefa’s statutes in 2024 which enabled incumbent Aleksander Ceferin to stand again next year. On that point, Maduro noted: "There is certainly a contradiction in the spirit of what they’ve done, but it’s still different – at least (in Uefa’s case) they changed the rule. "It was a very negative change but (the term limit preventing Ceferin standing again) is no longer in the rules. In this case (Fifa), it is in the rules." Fifa said in 2022 that a decision taken by the Fifa Council just before the World Cup final had discounted Infantino’s first three-year term as president, leaving him clear to stand again in 2027. The committee determining Infantino’s eligibility for next year’s election is chaired by Bruno Chiomento, who has known Infantino for more than 20 years. European members of the Fifa Council have asked Fifa to consider recusing him and replacing him due to his relationship with Infantino. Should Fifa’s electoral committee clear him, Maduro said national associations could still challenge Infantino’s eligibility at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the Swiss Federal Tribunal beyond that. Maduro believes Fifa’s checks and balances are even less effective now than under Blatter, arguing Infantino has been left "free to do whatever he wants". He said reports of committee members like Chiomento receiving VIP trips to the World Cup were concerning if these were at the discretion of Infantino or Fifa rather than part of a contractual agreement. "If those that are supposed to do such control are subject to being removed by those that they are supposed to control, their independence is undermined," he said.