Maduro says Infantino ineligible to seek fourth term as FIFA president

Former FIFA governance chief Miguel Maduro has said Gianni Infantino is ineligible to seek a fourth term as president of world football's governing body, arguing that its statutes limit the office to three terms.

Former FIFA governance chief Miguel Maduro has said Gianni Infantino is ineligible to seek a fourth term as president of world football’s governing body, arguing that its statutes limit the office to three terms.

Maduro made the comments on Tuesday as human rights organisation FairSquare urged FIFA member associations to challenge Infantino’s eligibility ahead of the 2027 presidential election. The group said it had contacted 52 associations.

FairSquare has argued that Infantino has already served the maximum three terms permitted under FIFA’s statutes. Infantino was elected in 2016, 2019 and 2023.

Infantino’s first term began after he was elected at an extraordinary FIFA congress in 2016 following the resignation of Sepp Blatter. He has argued that the initial period, which completed an interrupted mandate, should not count towards the three-term limit.

In December 2022, the FIFA Council unanimously confirmed that Infantino’s time in office between 2016 and 2019 would not count as a term. FairSquare has said the reasoning behind the decision was never made public.

The dispute centres on Article 33, paragraph two of FIFA’s statutes, which limits a president to three terms.

“Article 33, paragraph two of the FIFA statutes is very clear when it says no person may serve as president for more than three terms,” Maduro told reporters.

“Gianni Infantino has been elected three times, he’s been president of FIFA for three terms. So in my view, there’s no way to reconcile another presidency of Infantino,” he said.

Maduro, a Portuguese lawyer, was removed from his FIFA post in 2017 after opposing the re-election of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko to the organisation’s top committee.

He said the statutes made no distinction between full and shortened terms.

“The text of the provision is clear, it talks about three terms. It makes no distinction on whether these terms are complete terms or incomplete terms, four-year terms or terms that may be shorter than the four years,” Maduro said.

Infantino’s prospects of securing another term were strengthened last month when the head of Asian football endorsed his candidacy. He also has support across several other confederations, giving him a strong position among FIFA’s 211 member associations.

Maduro also criticised FIFA’s oversight mechanisms, saying bodies intended to check the president’s power had become less independent.

“That has a lot to do with the weakening of the independence of the bodies that are supposed to control the powers of the president and the political leadership of FIFA,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the recent evidence that we’ve had is not one of effective control. On the contrary, it is one where the president seems to be free to decide and to do whatever you want,” he added.

Maduro said member associations had been reluctant to challenge FIFA’s leadership because of what he described as a “climate of fear”.

Reuters said it had contacted FIFA for comment on Maduro’s claims.