France to decide Infantino stance before FIFA presidential election

French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo will convene the organisation’s executive committee on 10 September to determine France’s official position on Gianni Infantino’s possible re-election as FIFA president. The meeting will turn Diallo’s personal opposition to another Infantino mandate into a decision taken on behalf of the federation, after consultation with its governing body.

Diallo has made clear that he does not support Infantino remaining in office, but he has refused to announce a position for the FFF without first consulting its executive committee. The decision will therefore come through the federation’s formal structures rather than through the president alone. France will communicate its choice after the meeting.

The issue has gained urgency following a wider dispute over the way FIFA makes major decisions. Diallo has argued that national federations should not discover important developments through the media or be forced to accept decisions without being consulted or involved. He wants the current crisis to lead to deeper reforms in the governance of world football.

The immediate trigger was FIFA’s plan to transfer part of the rights connected to the World Cup to private investors. Tensions increased around the proposal at the end of July. Diallo said he was among the first to oppose the plan before taking part in discussions led by UEFA with European federations. FIFA eventually withdrew the project, a result Diallo regards as a success for the opposition to it.

That episode has shaped the French president’s position on the FIFA leadership question. His objection is linked not only to the proposed commercial structure, but also to the wider process by which decisions are presented to federations. Diallo now wants France to use the moment to demand greater consultation when world football’s most important choices are made.

Diallo was in Monaco for meetings with UEFA leaders while the European response was being discussed. He is a member of UEFA’s executive committee, placing him directly inside the organisation’s deliberations. Several European federations and UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin have already positioned themselves against a further Infantino mandate. Italy also declared its opposition on 26 August, citing recent initiatives promoted by the FIFA president.

The European movement was expected to develop further around the Champions League draw on 27 August. UEFA figures were due to use the gathering to coordinate their strategy against Infantino. UEFA was also expected to announce the end of its boycott of FIFA competitions so that the Women’s Under-20 World Cup could proceed normally. The change on that competition does not alter the broader disagreement over Infantino’s leadership.

France’s decision will come well before the FIFA presidential election, which is scheduled for 18 March 2027. Diallo has described the timetable as leaving no immediate pressure to announce a position, but he has also said that the moment now requires clear choices. The 10 September meeting is consequently both a decision on the election and a statement about how the FFF wants the international game to be governed.

The next step is the executive committee session itself. Until that meeting, the FFF has no official position in favour of or against Infantino’s re-election, even though its president has declared his personal opposition. Once the committee has met, France is expected to state its position publicly, adding the weight of one of Europe’s major football federations to the debate over FIFA’s future leadership and decision-making process.