European football leaders confident of finding candidate to stand against Infantino

Fifa president hoping to be re-elected in MarchOpponent may declare hand at last minuteEuropean football leaders are increasingly confident they will find a candidate to stand against Gianni Infantino in next year’s Fifa presidential election.One European football association head told the Guardian they were “positive” that Infantino will face an opponent in March, a sentiment echoed by senior figures at Uefa and other national associations before Thursday’s crucial meeting of the Fifa council. Continue reading…

European football leaders are increasingly confident they will find a candidate to stand against Gianni Infantino in next year’s Fifa presidential election European football leaders are increasingly confident they will find a candidate to stand against Gianni Infantino in next year’s Fifa presidential election. One European football association head told the Guardian they were “positive” that Infantino will face an opponent in March, a sentiment echoed by senior figures at Uefa and other national associations before Thursday’s crucial meeting of the Fifa council. Uefa, Concacaf – the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation – and the Asian Football Confederation have made clear they will oppose Infantino’s re-election bid in the wake of the World Cup sell-off scandal, but have been unable to coalesce around a credible candidate before the 18 November deadline for nominations to be submitted to Fifa.

The respective presidents of the three continental confederations, Aleksander Ceferin, Victor Montagliani and Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, have ruled themselves out and suggestions that high-profile figures such as Arsène Wenger or Michele Kang could put themselves forward have been dismissed. The