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CONCACAF chief Montagliani reportedly considering FIFA presidency challenge to Infantino

CONCACAF's Victor Montagliani delivers a speech
CONCACAF's Victor Montagliani delivers a speechJennifer Gauthier / Reuters

North American football chief Victor Montagliani is "making ⁠moves" towards challenging Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency in next March's ‌election, The i Paper reported on Friday, citing ‌sources.

The report comes amid growing ‌scrutiny of Infantino, who is facing the ‌first significant challenge to his leadership ‌after FIFA's proposal to sell a stake in the World Cup drew widespread ‌opposition from major regional confederations.

Infantino ⁠said in ‌April he would seek a fourth term as ​FIFA president, with the election for the 2027-2031 cycle scheduled ​to take place in Morocco on March 18th next year.

The Swiss-Italian executive had ⁠enjoyed strong ​backing from national federations until this week, when plans to create a $20-billion subsidiary linked to football's flagship tournament triggered ‌a shift in sentiment among some stakeholders.

Reuters has contacted CONCACAF for comment.

At a meeting on Thursday, CONCACAF's 41 member associations rejected FIFA's proposal but stopped short of backing UEFA's call for a boycott, while the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) said it would review ‌the plan before deciding its position.

The ​North American, Central American and Caribbean ‌confederation said members had expressed "deep concerns" over the lack of due process, a compressed timeline and the absence of review or approval by ⁠FIFA's relevant governance ⁠bodies.

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