UEFA executives rally behind Mioduski as potential challenger to FIFA’s Infantino

Support is coalescing within European football’s governing body for Dariusz Mioduski, a Polish businessman and former owner of Legia Warsaw, to mount a challenge against FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the next presidential election.

Infantino has held the FIFA presidency since 2016 and secured re-election in 2023, giving him a mandate that runs through 2027. During his tenure, he has pushed to expand FIFA’s global footprint, most notably through the upcoming 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted across the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Governance and transparency concerns have followed Infantino throughout his presidency, creating an opening for challengers who can position themselves as reformers.

Mioduski made his name in European football through his ownership of Legia Warsaw, one of Poland’s most storied clubs competing in the Ekstraklasa. UEFA, the European football confederation, represents a massive voting bloc within FIFA’s 211-member congress, and European nations have historically wielded outsized influence in FIFA elections.

No official candidacy announcement has been made, and Mioduski hasn’t publicly laid out a political platform. But the fact that his name is circulating among senior UEFA figures suggests the groundwork is being laid well ahead of the 2027 vote.

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