Infantino Faces Fiercest Challenge Yet from German FA President
Gianni Infantino’s grip on power at Fifa is facing its fiercest challenge yet – and Germany’s FA president has just accused him of trying to game the system to survive.
Neuendorf tears into Infantino’s ‘reform’ pledge
Bernd Neuendorf, head of the German FA (DFB), has dismissed Infantino’s promise to discuss reforms as nothing more than an election tactic ahead of the 2027 Fifa presidential vote.
“I regard Gianni Infantino's letter as a transparent ploy to secure his re-election next year,” Neuendorf said on Tuesday, leaving little room for doubt about where Germany stands.
The attack comes after Infantino was forced into an embarrassing retreat. Under intense global pressure, he abandoned a controversial plan to sell a 20 per cent stake in Fifa tournaments – including the World Cup – to private investors. The idea triggered outrage across the game, raising fears that the sport’s crown jewels were being pushed towards private equity control.
The backlash has not eased since the U-turn. It has hardened.
Uefa leads revolt as support crumbles
Uefa has been at the front of the rebellion. The European governing body called for Infantino to step down and even threatened to boycott Fifa competitions, a dramatic escalation in a power struggle that has been simmering for months.
Several Uefa member associations have already withdrawn their backing for the Swiss-Italian’s re-election bid. Resistance is no longer confined to Europe either. Opposition has also emerged from the Asian confederation and from Concacaf, which represents nations in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Infantino, though, is refusing to let go.
On Monday evening he sent a letter to all 211 Fifa member associations and Fifa Council members, setting out what he framed as a path to reform. Multiple media outlets reported details of the message, in which he called for an “independent external review of Fifa's current governance framework”.
He also insisted that his abandoned sell-off plan had never put “Fifa's democratic processes, independence and sporting authority” up for sale.
For Neuendorf, that line did nothing to repair the damage.
“He has squandered all credibility”
“Fundamentally, Fifa now seems to have recognised that changes are essential,” Neuendorf said. “However, Gianni Infantino is definitely not the right person to lead a reform process. He has squandered all credibility.”
Germany has been building towards this break for some time. The DFB had already refused to endorse Infantino earlier in the year, even before the latest World Cup-related scandals pushed tensions into open conflict.
“The DFB has not signed a letter of support for the re-election of Gianni Infantino,” the federation stated back in July. “Further steps will be discussed in the DFB presidential board.”
Those “further steps” now look far more serious as the world game’s most powerful institutions line up against the Fifa president.
German football’s trust is gone
Inside German football, the mood has shifted from concern to outright distrust. Former Germany national team director Oliver Bierhoff underlined just how far relations have deteriorated.
“We have to take care of football,” he said. “It is already commercial but it is a property for all of football. The world views may be different but in the last weeks and months a lot happened so that we have no trust any more that it will be going in the right direction.”
That loss of trust is the core of Infantino’s problem. Letters, reviews and reform pledges might buy time, but with major confederations openly questioning his legitimacy and hinting at boycotts, the battle now is not just for re-election.
It is for control of the global game itself.
