The 'golden throne' of FIFA burns fiercely, the anti-Infantino faction continues to gather more forces

The wave of opposition to FIFA President Gianni Infantino continues to spread as a UEFA member publicly declares they will not vote for him in the 2027 election.

The "coalition" opposing FIFA President Gianni Infantino has just gained a notable new member as the Scottish Football Association (SFA) confirms it will not vote for Infantino in the FIFA presidential election scheduled for 2027. This decision was publicly announced by SFA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell in an exchange with BBC Sport.

"The SFA's position has been very clear since the meeting of the 55 UEFA member associations. We agree with UEFA's stance, because the collective voice of 55 associations clearly carries more weight than a single voice,"Maxwell stated.

He also affirmed that Scotland fully agrees with the statement that trust in FIFA's leadership has declined.

"The SFA confirms it will not vote for Gianni Infantino when the election takes place in early 2027,"Maxwell emphasized.

Scotland is not the first European country to publicly pick a side. The football associations of England, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland have all previously declared their withdrawal of support for Infantino. Notably, UEFA with its 55 members is becoming the most powerful opposition force in the increasingly tense confrontation with FIFA.

The root of the crisis is the plan to establish FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a company intended to manage the commercial assets and ticket sales of FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup. Although the plan was ultimately canceled after a strong wave of opposition, what happened afterward truly sparked the power struggle.

UEFA, CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) jointly signed a letter criticizing FIFA's handling of the issue, stating that trust had been broken and questioning the transparency of the governance process.

But on the flip side, Infantino is not yet isolated. The African, South American, and Oceanian confederations generally still support the FIFA President. Even within regions openly opposing him, there are many countries that do not follow the collective stance.

Within CONCACAF, Mexico, Grenada, and St Kitts and Nevis have confirmed they stand with Infantino. In Asia, the UAE, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Kuwait, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Bhutan are also reported to still support the man holding the most powerful seat in world football.

The power map of FIFA is therefore being divided into opposing blocs.

The two sides are gradually gathering forces, seeking more allies and consolidating votes ahead of election day. Each of the 211 FIFA member associations has one vote. Under current regulations, if the race has only two candidates, the one who gets more than 50% of the valid votes wins. That means, in a scenario where all 211 members cast valid votes, Infantino needs at least 106 votes to keep the FIFA "throne." If he is the only candidate, the FIFA Congress may decide to re-elect him by acclamation.

The scenario becomes more complicated if three or more candidates emerge. In that case, the first round of voting requires a candidate to receive two-thirds of the votes of members present and eligible to vote. If no winner is found, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated one by one until only two remain.

Notably, no opponent has officially emerged yet. According to FIFA regulations, a presidential candidate must receive the support of at least five member associations, and the application must be submitted to FIFA at least four months before the Congress. With the election scheduled for March 18, 2027, in Rabat, Morocco, the corresponding deadline is November 18, 2026.