Former Arsenal manager Ars\u00e8ne Wenger is seriously considering a challenge to Gianni Infantino for the presidency of FIFA.\n<\/p>\n
The 77-year-old Frenchman, who has worked as FIFA\u2019s Chief of Global Football Development since 2019, has been urged by senior European football figures for several weeks to enter the race.\n<\/p>\n
As reported by BBC Sport on Tuesday, sources close to Wenger say he has not yet reached a final decision but is giving the prospect careful thought.\n<\/p>\n
Candidates have until 18 November to declare their intention to stand.<\/p>\n
The election will take place on 18 March 2027 at the FIFA Congress in Rabat, Morocco.<\/p>\n
Infantino\u2019s leadership has come under significant pressure after his plan to sell commercial stakes in the World Cup to private investors collapsed amid widespread criticism. <\/p>\n
The Swiss official has insisted he retains the support of the \u201cvast, vast majority\u201d of world football and remains the clear favourite to win a fourth and final term.<\/p>\n
Wenger publicly distanced himself from the abandoned commercial proposal. \u201cI was not involved in this strategic plan and first became aware of the project through media reports,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question, because I firmly believe in an independent Fifa that serves our game with commitment, transparency and integrity.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Some of Wenger\u2019s backers have suggested they would accept him as a short-term president who could step down before serving a full four-year term. His long-standing reputation, particularly in Africa, is seen as a potential strength should he decide to run.\n<\/p>\n
Two other candidates have already declared their interest: former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega and Japan Football Association honorary president Kozo Tashima.\n<\/p>\n
While Infantino continues to enjoy strong support in Africa, Asia and parts of South America, a formal challenge from Wenger would mark the most serious test of his authority since the World Cup commercial row.\n<\/p>\n
Source: <\/p>\n
Former Arsenal manager Ars\u00e8ne Wenger is seriously considering a challenge to Gianni Infantino for the presidency of FIFA. The 77-year-old Frenchman, who has worked as FIFA\u2019s Chief of Global Football… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}