Gianni Infantino Faces Criticism Over Reform Promises
Gianni Infantino’s latest promise of reform has landed with a thud in Germany.
DFB president Bernd Neuendorf has dismissed the Fifa chief’s pledge as nothing more than an election stunt, accusing him of using the crisis around his leadership to cling to power ahead of the 2027 presidential vote.
Infantino under siege
Infantino has faced intense calls to resign after being forced to scrap a controversial plan to sell a 20 per cent stake in Fifa tournaments – including the World Cup – to private investors. The proposal triggered outrage across the game and has left his authority badly damaged.
Uefa moved first. Europe’s governing body pushed for Infantino to step down and even raised the prospect of boycotting Fifa competitions. Several Uefa member associations have already withdrawn their backing for his re-election. Resistance has also grown beyond Europe, with opposition emerging from the Asian confederation and Concacaf, which represents North and Central America and the Caribbean.
The pressure has not shifted him. Infantino remains in place and, on Monday evening, attempted to seize back the initiative.
The reform letter
In a letter sent to all 211 member associations and Fifa Council members, and reported by multiple outlets, Infantino outlined his version of a way forward.
He proposed an “independent external review of Fifa’s current governance framework” and insisted that his abandoned sell-off plan had never put “Fifa’s democratic processes, independence and sporting authority” up for sale.
The message was clear: acknowledge mistakes, promise change, stay in charge.
Neuendorf was having none of it.
DFB: ‘Transparent ploy’
“I regard Gianni Infantino’s letter as a transparent ploy to secure his re-election next year,” Neuendorf said on Tuesday, cutting straight through the diplomatic niceties.
“Fundamentally, Fifa now seems to have recognised that changes are essential. However, Gianni Infantino is definitely not the right person to lead a reform process. He has squandered all credibility.”
Germany’s stance is not new. The DFB has been a leading critic of Infantino for some time and had already refused to endorse him earlier this year, even before the latest World Cup-related scandals erupted.
“The DFB has not signed a letter of support for the re-election of Gianni Infantino,” the federation stated back in July. “Further steps will be discussed in the DFB presidential board.”
Trust broken
The scepticism runs deep in German football circles. Former Germany national team director Oliver Bierhoff underlined how far trust in the Fifa president has eroded.
“We have to take care of football,” he said. “It is already commercial but it is a property for all of football. The world views may be different but in the last weeks and months a lot happened so that we have no trust any more that it will be going in the right direction.”
That is the core of the dispute: not just one abandoned deal, but a belief that the game’s global guardian can no longer be trusted to protect it.
Infantino talks of external reviews and governance frameworks. His critics talk of credibility, power and ownership of football’s future. With the Fifa presidential election looming in March 2027, the battle over who should lead that future has only just begun.
