Maduro has declared that FIFA’s statutes allow one person to be president for the maximum three mandates. For this reason, he estimates that Infantino cannot seek another mandate.
The current FIFA president was elected for the first time in 2016, following Sepp Blatter’s resignation as he was re-elected in 2019 and 2023.
However, in December 2022, the Council of FIFA unanimously decided that the 2016-2019 period would not be calculated as a full mandate, with the argument that Infantino had completed his predecessor’s suspended mandate.
This is the very interpretation that has been opposed by the Human Rights Organization FairSquare, which has called on FIFA member federations to declare Infantino inappropriate for running in 2027.
I FIFA is very clear when it says no one can serve as president for more than three mandates. Gianni Infantino has been elected three times and has been president of three mandates. Therefore, there is no way to justify another of his mandate, Maduro has declared.
The Portuguese lawyer has stressed that the regulation makes no distinction between full and unfinished mandates.
On the other hand, support for a new Infantino run has increased following the support he received last month from the Asian football leader. It also has support from other confederations, while FIFA has 211 member federations with the right to vote.
FairSquare has indicated that it has been addressed by fifty to two member federations, demanding that they react to the issue. The organisation has also developed contacts with Norwegian football officials, who had earlier supported a complaint against Infantino for violating the rules of political neutrality.
FairSquare Director Nicholas McGehan has demanded that other federations take their stand, stressing that this issue should not be left alone in Norway’s Football Federation.
Meanwhile, Maduro has also criticised FIFA’s internal mechanisms, claiming that organs that should oversee the president’s work are not sufficiently independent.
Source Layer: RTKLive