The president of the German Football Association exposes Infantino: his message is a "transparent ploy" to stay in power | Goal.com

Veröffentlicht am 22 Sep 2026 | Lesezeit: 2 Minuten

Less than 24 hours after Gianni Infantino's conciliatory message, the FIFA president found the fiercest response coming from within his own house.

Bernd Neuendorf, president of the German Football Association and a member of the FIFA Council, detonated a resounding bombshell. He dismissed the FIFA president's move as no reform but a "blatant electoral ploy", declaring that the Swiss had completely lost his credibility and was no longer the right man to lead the game.

Infantino had written to all 211 member nations this week, proposing talks on reform within world football's governing body in a bid to contain the ongoing crisis.

Within that message, he called for an independent review of FIFA's decision-making process. In a conciliatory tone, he pledged to propose wide consultations with the continental confederations, the member associations and other relevant parties on strengthening how decisions are made.

Reassurance came next. Infantino affirmed that an association's stance on the proposals or on governance matters would not affect how FIFA treated them, and that the development and solidarity programmes would continue under the current rules.

Infantino offers FIFA reform to save his throne after the World Cup sale scandal

The move follows the fury that greeted Infantino's controversial proposal to sell a 20% stake in FIFA's commercial rights, including the World Cup, to private-sector investors.

Opposition proved fierce. Boycott threats forced the plan to be abandoned entirely last July, with UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF calling for radical changes in FIFA's leadership.

None of the confederations had been consulted at any stage, they insisted at the time, accusing Infantino of acting alone. UEFA declared that a change of leadership had become necessary after it lost confidence in the current president.

The strongest response landed today, Tuesday, from Neuendorf, a member of the FIFA Council itself, the organisation's main decision-making body, according to Reuters.

Speaking in a sharp tone, the president of the German Football Association said: "I regard Gianni Infantino's message as a blatant ploy to ensure his re-election next year. It seems that FIFA has now recognised, in principle, the necessity of making changes."

He added: "Nevertheless, Gianni Infantino is not the right person to lead the reform process, as he has completely lost his credibility."

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Infantino faces his re-election vote in March. A rival will be hard to find, and informed sources told Reuters that his opponents now accept he still holds enough votes to win. That realisation has driven them towards a new strategy: curbing his absolute powers within the organisation rather than trying to bring him down.

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