​President of FIFA Gianni Infantino (2ndL) attends the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by Teresa SUAREZ / POOL / AFP via Getty Images) | POOL/AFP via Getty Images Gianni Infantino is coming under increasing pressure ahead of next March’s FIFA presidential election, with a growing number of national federations reportedly withdrawing their support. Dr. Constantin Eckner believes the situation has changed considerably in just a few weeks, after Infantino previously appeared to be heading toward an uncontested race.“So it doesn’t come as a surprise, given the recent events that now national federations, are withdrawing their support for Infantino. I mean, only a few weeks ago, it looked like it would be a one-horse race because potential candidates like Aleksander Čeferin basically declined to run against Infantino because, at that point, it seemed pointless,” Dr. Constantin Eckner told Casino.org. “Things, of course, may change, and it looks like they’re changing. The German FA, indeed, said in June that they wouldn’t sign the support letter, or the letter of recommendation, for Infantino for the upcoming election in March. They were a little bit ahead of their time. I believe, when it comes to UEFA, out of the 55 voting FIFA members, most of them are opposing Infantino at this point, maybe all of them.“The Czech FA president spoke a little bit differently, saying that maybe the FIFA ‘Forward’ Enterprise proposal would actually be beneficial for his federation. But I think the vast majority of UEFA members are against Infantino, just like the CONCACAF members and a significant portion of the AFC members, although Qatar, for instance, being an AFC member, have still declared their support for the Qatari citizen, Gianni Infantino.”The big question, then, is who could realistically emerge as an alternative. Eckner believes Victor Montagliani, the Canadian president of CONCACAF, could be one of the most prominent candidates if the opposition to Infantino continues to gather momentum.“When it comes to opposing candidates, I mean, as I said, a week or so ago it looked like it would be impossible to run against Infantino with any kind of chance. Now, Victor Montagliani, the CONCACAF president, a Canadian, I believe, would be the best candidate against Infantino. Him being the CONCACAF president since 2012 and also being a Canadian right now, I mean, it might actually be beneficial in a sense,” said Eckner. “He’s not a UEFA member, he’s not a European, so he represents a different part of the world, but also Canada, with the difficult relationship to the United States and also to Infantino. I believe, why not support him? But of course, he needs the support of UEFA, of his own confederation, CONCACAF, and also of a lot of AFC members, probably.”Would Germany be willing to back Montagliani? Eckner believes it could make sense, particularly given the