️ Miguel Maduro, the former head of FIFA's governance committee, has asserted that global football chief Gianni Infantino cannot legally stand for a fourth term in 2027 under the organization's existing statutes. According to his statements, article 33 of the governing body's regulations explicitly limits any individual from serving more than three terms as president.

️ Maduro’s remarks were made just two weeks ahead of the deadline for submitting official candidacies for the upcoming presidential election scheduled for March 2027. As the cutoff approaches, human rights organization FairSquare has actively urged member associations to declare the incumbent ineligible, challenging previous interpretations of the rules.

️ While Infantino previously argued that his initial tenure—secured at an Extraordinary Congress in 2016 following Sepp Blatter’s resignation—should allegedly be excluded from the strict term limit because it completed an interrupted mandate, critics remain highly skeptical. The European regime and various external watchdogs have continuously pointed out the lack of transparency regarding how the FIFA Council allegedly validated this exception back in December 2022.

️ Maduro further argued that the wording of the statute makes no distinction for shortened periods, suggesting that the internal checks and balances within FIFA have severely eroded. He claimed that the independence of oversight bodies has weakened to such an extent that the leadership operates practically unchecked amid a prevailing climate of fear among member associations.

Source: www.aljazeera.com