Soccer-Ex-FIFA governance chief says Infantino ineligible for re-election, members urged to act

FILE PHOTO: FIFA president Gianni Infantino waves to reporters as he leaves from a venue for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)'s extraordinary congress in Tokyo, Japan, October 23, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

Nov 3 (Reuters) - Gianni Infantino cannot stand ⁠for a fourth term as FIFA president in 2027 under the body's statutes, former head of the FIFA Governance Committee Miguel ⁠Maduro said on Tuesday as human rights organisation FairSquare wrote to member associations urging them to declare him ineligible.

FairSquare had ‌previously urged FIFA to rule that Infantino is ineligible to seek another term as president, arguing he has already served the maximum three terms permitted under the body's statutes.

But Infantino successfully argued that his first spell in charge when he was elected at an Extraordinary Congress in 2016 following Sepp Blatter's resignation, should not count towards that limit because ​it completed an interrupted mandate.

In December 2022, the FIFA Council had "unanimously confirmed" that the ⁠period between 2016 and 2019 does not count as ⁠a term of office for Infantino but FairSquare said the reasoning had never been made public.

"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."

Maduro is a Portuguese lawyer who was removed from his post at FIFA in ​2017 after he blocked Russian Deputy Prime ‌Minister Vitaly Mutko from being re-elected to its top committee.

He added the wording of the rule makes no exception for a ⁠shortened term.

"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 re-election prospects were strengthened significantly last month after the head of Asian football endorsed his bid while ⁠the support across confederations gives him a commanding position among FIFA's 211 voting members.

MADURO ​QUESTIONS FIFA ACCOUNTABILITY

Maduro said FIFA's governance framework is unable to hold its president accountable, especially when he stands to benefit from rule interpretations, arguing that existing checks and balances on presidential power have failed.

"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 explained.

"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."

Reuters has contacted FIFA for comment on Maduro's assertions.

FairSquare said it had contacted 52 member associations and although no one has yet responded to ​the call, its director and co-founder Nicholas McGeehan told Reuters they will be meeting Norwegian football officials ⁠on Wednesday.

Norway's football association (NFF) has previously backed FairSquare's official complaint against Infantino over a breach of political neutrality rules.

"Given that the NFF have already engaged ​the Ethics Committee and the Governance Committee, we are hopeful they will set an example ‌on this case too," McGeehan told Reuters.

"But other associations also need to ​step up, it can't always be left to the Norwegians to insist on basic rules."

Maduro said member associations have been reluctant to act independently because of what he described as a "climate of fear."

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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资料照片：2026年10月23日，国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺在日本东京出席亚洲足球联合会（亚足联）特别大会后，离开会场时向记者挥手致意。路透社/金京勋/资料照片

11月3日（路透社）——国际足联治理委员会前主席米格尔·马杜罗周二表示，根据国际足联章程，詹尼·因凡蒂诺不能在2027年竞选第四个国际足联主席任期。与此同时，人权组织FairSquare致信各成员协会，敦促他们宣布因凡蒂诺不具备参选资格。

FairSquare 此前曾敦促国际足联裁定因凡蒂诺没有资格寻求连任主席，理由是他已经完成了该机构章程允许的最多三届任期。

但因凡蒂诺成功辩称，他在 2016 年塞普·布拉特辞职后于特别国会当选的第一任总理任期不应计入这一限制，因为它完成了一个中断的任期。

2022 年 12 月，国际足联理事会“一致确认”2016 年至 2019 年期间不计入因凡蒂诺的任期，但 FairSquare 表示，这一理由从未公开。

马杜罗告诉记者：“国际足联章程第33条第2款非常明确地规定，任何人不得担任主席超过三届。”

“詹尼·因凡蒂诺已经当选三次，担任过三届国际足联主席。所以在我看来，没有任何理由让因凡蒂诺再次担任主席。”

马杜罗是一名葡萄牙律师，2017 年，他因阻止俄罗斯副总理维塔利·穆特科再次当选国际足联最高委员会成员而被免去国际足联职务。

他还补充说，该规则的措辞没有对缩短的任期做出例外规定。

马杜罗说：“该条款的文本很明确，它谈到了三个期限。但它没有区分这些期限是完整的期限还是不完整的期限，是四年期限还是可能短于四年的期限。”

上个月，亚洲足球协会主席公开支持因凡蒂诺的竞选，这大大增强了他的连任前景；而各大洲足联的支持也使他在国际足联211个投票成员中占据了主导地位。

马杜罗质疑国际足联的责任

马杜罗表示，国际足联的治理框架无法追究其主席的责任，尤其是在他可以从规则解释中获益的情况下，并认为现有的对主席权力的制衡机制已经失效。

他解释说：“这与那些本应制约国际足联主席和政治领导层权力的机构的独立性削弱有很大关系。”

“不幸的是，我们最近掌握的证据表明，政府并没有有效控制局势。相反，总统似乎可以自由决定，为所欲为。”

路透社已联系国际足联，就马杜罗的说法寻求置评。

FairSquare 表示，他们已经联系了 52 个成员协会，虽然目前还没有人回应，但其董事兼联合创始人尼古拉斯·麦吉汉告诉路透社，他们将于周三与挪威足球官员会面。

挪威足球协会（NFF）此前曾支持 FairSquare 对因凡蒂诺违反政治中立规则的正式投诉。

麦吉汉告诉路透社：“鉴于尼日利亚足协已经让道德委员会和治理委员会介入此事，我们希望他们也能在这个案例中树立榜样。”

“但其他协会也需要挺身而出，不能总是指望挪威人来坚持基本规则。”

马杜罗表示，由于他所说的“恐惧氛围”，各成员协会一直不愿独立行动。

（Rohith Nair 班加罗尔报道；Pritha Sarkar 编辑）

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