Maduro: 'Climate of fear' may block challenges to Infantino's election

FILE PHOTO - FIFA president Gianni Infantino speaks during an event. The English and Welsh associations have formally withdrawn their support for Gianni Infantino as the pressure continues to mount on the FIFA president. (is associated with: «Maduro: 'Climate of fear' may block challenges to Infantino's election») Sam Corum/PA Wire/dpaA climate of fear may prevent national associations challenging Gianni Infantino’s eligibility to serve a fourth term as FIFA president, the former chair of its governance committee has said.Miguel Maduro, appointed by Infantino as he swept to power in 2016 pledging to reform FIFA after corruption scandals under his predecessor Sepp Blatter, believes the three-term limit on presidents in FIFA’s statutes is clear and should be cited by associations to block Infantino from standing again next year.Infantino’s position appeared under threat after his botched World Cup private investor plan – developed without the knowledge of the FIFA Council or national associations – came to light. However, he now appears well-placed to be re-elected and is able to count on support from most associations in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America.Maduro, who was dismissed by Infantino in 2017 after he challenged the appointment of Russia’s Vitaly Mutko to the FIFA Council, has helped campaign group FairSquare draft a letter to FIFA’s governance, audit and compliance (GACC) committee questioning Infantino’s eligibility to stand again.He is now backing its latest move calling on national associations to declare him ineligible, but is concerned that many may be reticent to do so.“The fact that they are not (challenging Infantino’s eligibility) tells us a lot of the extent to which the climate is one of fear,” he said.“We’ve seen that whoever acts on their own and challenges and shows a dissenting voice, or shows even that they have an opinion of their own, gets ostracized, gets set aside, loses influence in the framework of power of FIFA.”European associations may also be hesitant to challenge Infantino on this point given they agreed a change of UEFA’s statutes in 2024 which has allowed incumbent Aleksander Čeferin to stand again next year.On that point, Maduro said: “There is certainly a contradiction in the spirit of what they’ve done, but it’s still different – at least (in UEFA’s case) they changed the rule.“It was a very negative change but (the term limit preventing Ceferin standing again) is no longer in the rules. In this case (FIFA), it is in the rules.”FIFA said in 2022 that a decision taken by the FIFA Council just before the World Cup final had discounted Infantino’s first three-year term as president, leaving him clear to stand again in 2027.The committee that will determine Infantino’s eligibility for next year’s election is chaired by Bruno Chiomento, who has known Infantino for more than 20 years. European members of the FIFA Council have asked FIFA to consider recusing him and replacing him due to his relationship with Infantino.If FIFA’s electoral committee does clear him, Maduro said national associations could still challenge Infantino’s eligibility at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the Swiss Federal Tribunal beyond that.Maduro believes FIFA’s checks and balances are even less effective now than they were under Blatter, arguing Infantino has been left “free to do whatever he wants.”