FIFA rules say Infantino is ineligible for election

FIFA’s rules are clear: “No person may serve as President for more than three terms of office.” (Article 33(2), FIFA statutes.)

So why is Gianni Infantino running for a fourth term?

Write to your member association today and demand they take action to enforce FIFA rules and declare Infantino ineligible to run for another presidential term.

Violating their own rules yet again

One of the reforms FIFA introduced in 2016 was a limit on presidential terms. It was designed to serve as a check on executive power after the corruption charges over the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Infantino was elected president in 2016 and was then re-elected in June 2019 and March 2023, making this his last term in office.

Under FIFA rules, it’s only the FIFA Congress that can change the limit of three terms in office.

But two days before the 2022 Men’s World Cup, the FIFA Council announced it had unanimously agreed with the Governance, Audit & Compliance Committee that the period between 2016 and 2019 did not “count as a term in office” for Infantino.

They never explained why or how they came to this decision. Or what their legal basis was for openly violating a rule that exists to ensure the presidency is democratic and that no one can rule in perpetuity.

We wrote to the current Governance Committee to highlight that the decision was unlawful, and will remain so even if Infantino is elected again. They said they would “read and consider the points FairSquare raises in due time.”

Ineligibility is a problem for Infantino

The fact the decision was unlawful means any one of the 211 member associations of FIFA have the power to unseat Infantino if they do not support him.

They can simply demand that the Governance Committee enforce the rules on presidential term limits.

And if they fail to act, the case should then be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This can happen even if Infantino is re-elected in March.

Write to your member association today

The rules are clear – Infantino cannot be an exception to them. It doesn’t just matter that he goes. For the good of the game it matters how he goes.

Together we can keep the pressure on him by continuing to throw FIFA’s own rulebook at them.

Email your member association today and ask them to use their power to force FIFA to follow the rules on presidential terms.

This will put them and Infantino under pressure, and will only take a couple of minutes. We’ll find the details of your member association, and we have a draft email written for you ready to send.

Your support matters

Lots of member associations have publicly withdrawn their support for Infantino in the past few months. So if they want him out, why haven’t any of them simply demanded this rule be upheld?

So far, it seems most member associations are more interested in power plays than they are holding FIFA and its President accountable to its own rules.

Together, we can call out this hypocrisy. Email your member association today and ask them why they’re not forcing FIFA to follow the rules on presidential terms.