Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Ramon Vega says he will challenge Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency.
Vega, 55, who made 23 appearances for Switzerland and also played for Celtic, Watford, Cagliari and Grasshoppers in Zurich, becomes the first person to go public with their intention to go up against Infantino.
The current FIFA president intends to stand for a fourth term at the FIFA Congress next March, but is under pressure after a private investor plan was rejected by three confederations and subsequently abandoned. Among the confederations which rejected it was European football’s governing body UEFA, which says it has lost confidence in Infantino.
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Vega, who has worked primarily in finance since retiring in 2004, previously explored runs for the FIFA presidency in 2015, 2019 and 2022 but failed to get the required backing of at least five of FIFA’s 211 member federations in order to get on the ballot.
Anyone wishing to stand for FIFA president must also have played an active role in football for two of the past five years and be able to pass an eligibility check undertaken by a FIFA committee.
“I am standing because my life has prepared me to serve the game,” Vega said in a statement Wednesday. “I stand before the global football family with humility, determination and a profound sense of responsibility.
“Football does not belong to presidents, confederations or administrators. Football is greater than any position, any individual or any institution.
“Football is in the emergency room, on life support. We cannot wait any longer. FIFA needs a new direction and fundamental reform.”
UEFA has called its 55 member federations to a previously scheduled summit Thursday in Berlin that arrives in the midst of European efforts to get a new leader for soccer’s world body.
Infantino’s divisive World Cup private investment plan — that failed within days of being revealed in July — pushed UEFA to act on long-standing mistrust of its former employee’s increasingly executive presidency at FIFA.
There is also deep discontent around the handling of the Folarin Balogun case at the World Cup, while it has been reported this week that the FIFA administration ignored the advice of its own lawyers and allowed DR Congo to play in an intercontinental playoff despite goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi being ineligible. FIFA has so far not responded to a request to comment regarding that matter.
The Press Association reported that UEFA remains committed to identifying a credible alternative candidate to run against Infantino, but that it is unlikely any individual will be settled on at Thursday’s meeting. The deadline for candidates to be submitted is Nov. 18.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin was joined in August by his fellow FIFA vice presidents from Asia and North America in denouncing Infantino for deception and breach of trust over the World Cup sell-off plan.
Still, neither Ceferin or his counterparts at the AFC and Cconcacaf, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain and Victor Montagliani of Canada, currently look set to be on the FIFA ballot.
Europe’s 55 count for more than a quarter of FIFA’s 211 member federations who can vote in the election on March 18 in Rabat, Morocco. Associated Press research suggests Infantino already has about 90 votes pledged — albeit before any potential opponent is known.
Still, UEFA is not a united bloc. Infantino has support promised from Azerbaijan, the home country of a close aide, and Latvia. On Wednesday he met with soccer and government officials in the Czech capital Prague.
Infantino is attempting to shore up his power base in Africa as he attends the Confederation of African Football (CAF) strategy conference in Cape Verde this week, alongside FIFA’s chief of global football development Arsene Wenger.
He also enjoys strong support in South America, while a number of Middle Eastern nations, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have indicated they will back him for the presidency.
PA and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
