KATOWICE / ZURICH — FIFA confirmed Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026, that President Gianni Infantino still plans to stand for re-election in 2027, even as criticism of his leadership mounts and UEFA presses a U.S. discovery fight tied to a possible Swiss criminal complaint, Al Jazeera reported.

“The FIFA president announced in April that he will stand for re-election in 2027. Of course, nothing has changed. Mr Infantino will be standing for re-election,” a FIFA spokesperson said, hours after Infantino avoided questions about his future at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland.

Outside Arena Katowice on Saturday, Infantino told Sky News there would be “a right place and a right time” to discuss his future — “It’s not today, it’s not here” — and did not answer when asked whether he had considered resigning or still intends a fourth term.

FIFA presidents are limited to three four-year terms; Infantino successfully argued in 2022 that his first spell after Sepp Blatter’s resignation should not count toward that cap because it completed an interrupted mandate. Critics and rights groups have asked FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee to block another run.

Al Jazeera noted Infantino’s close public ties to U.S. President Donald Trump — including handing Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the 2026 World Cup draw — and the abandoned plan to move commercial rights into FIFA Forward Enterprise with an investor group led by Joshua Kushner. Last month UEFA sought U.S. federal-court permission to obtain FIFA Florida testimony and documents for a planned Swiss criminal complaint over that effort; FIFA called the push a “smear campaign” and “fishing expedition,” saying no Swiss criminal case yet exists.

The next FIFA presidential election is set for the March 18, 2027 congress in Rabat, Morocco. Challengers must declare by Nov. 18; 106 of 211 member associations are needed to win.

Sources