Sports

European football leaders meet in Berlin to discuss replacing FIFA president

European football leaders met in Berlin on Wednesday to look for a candidate and draw up a plan to unseat Gianni Infantino as FIFA president, according to the Associated Press. Al Jazeera reported that UEFA has invited its 55 member associations to a summit in Berlin on Thursday, as European officials work to settle on a new head for world football's governing body.

سكاي نيوز عربيةWednesday, October 7, 2026, 21:45Covered by 2 sources

Illustrative photo: Rows of empty orange stadium seats in a grandstand. Photo by Deny Hill on Unsplash

Why it matters

FIFA represents federations from every continent, so a fight over its presidency reflects the balance of power within the global game. Arab, Asian and African federations hold influential votes in any future election, which makes their positions pivotal in this race.

Background

UEFA is the governing body of football in Europe, while FIFA is the sport's global governing body. According to the reports, Gianni Infantino is the current FIFA president.

Key points

Al Jazeera's headline describes UEFA's move as a "dual plan" to oust Infantino, though the available text gives no details of that plan.

How outlets covered it

Sky News Arabia relayed the story from the Associated Press, stressing that European football leaders met on Wednesday to find a candidate and prepare a plan to remove Infantino. Al Jazeera focused on UEFA's invitation to its 55 member associations for a summit in Berlin on Thursday, and mentioned a European push to choose a new FIFA president, without attributing that claim to a source in the available text. The headlines differ in framing: Sky News Arabia put "ousting Infantino" in quotation marks, while Al Jazeera used the phrases "football coup" and "dual plan". The available material does not make clear whether the Wednesday meeting cited by AP is the same as the Thursday summit cited by Al Jazeera.