"To restore credibility to football": former player challenges Infantino in FIFA elections | Goal.com
Former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega announced on Wednesday that he wants to run for the presidency of FIFA, throwing down a challenge to current president Gianni Infantino. First, though, the Swiss must satisfy a number of conditions before he can officially complete his candidacy.
Vega, 55, insists his goal in contesting the elections is "simple". He wants to serve "football and everyone who contributes to this sport".
In a statement published by French network RMC, the former Swiss defender explained that his project aims to "reunite the global football family, implement real and sustainable reform, modernise FIFA to suit the twenty-first century, restore stability and credibility, and rebuild the trust that football urgently needs".
His announcement lands amid the criticism Infantino has faced since last summer. The president pitched a plan to set up a commercial company affiliated with FIFA and open it to private-sector investors, only to withdraw the project.
This is far from Vega's first move. He has declared his ambition to reach the FIFA presidency more than once, most recently in 2022, but failed to complete the candidacy procedures. Those require, among other things, the backing of at least five associations out of FIFA's 211 members.
"The situation has changed a lot since then," Vega told French news agency AFP, arguing that the national associations have become "more open to change" compared with his previous attempts.
During his playing career Vega turned out for several clubs, ending his professional journey at Crystal in the 2002-2003 season.
The former Switzerland international has been busy on social media in recent weeks, yet he has still to reveal a detailed electoral programme.
To become an official candidate, Vega must have held an active role in football for at least two years within the last five. He also needs the support of at least five national associations from various parts of the world, and he must pass the governing body's integrity checks.
All of this has to be in place before the deadline for candidacy applications on 18 November.
Whether he ticks every box remains unclear. Should he manage it, Vega would become the first candidate to officially announce a challenge to Infantino in the upcoming elections.
Infantino, 56, has held the FIFA presidency since 2016. The elections are set for the governing body's congress in the Moroccan capital Rabat on 18 March 2027.
Criticism has dogged the FIFA president since he announced the proposed commercial company project. Opposition quickly emerged from prominent continental confederations, among them UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation.
Even so, none of these confederations has yet put forward a unified candidate to stand against Infantino.
The window for candidacy applications closes on 18 November, with the elections to be settled at FIFA's congress in March 2027.
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