Gianni Infantino faces FIFA's senior leadership on Wednesday over a controversial investment plan that has already been scrapped — and now his grip on the presidency is under genuine threat for the first time.

The FIFA president tried to sell a stake in the World Cup's commercial rights to private investors. The gamble backfired. FIFA pulled the plan, and the head of European Leagues declared Infantino's position "untenable" in the fallout, as Reuters reported.

Wednesday's showdown is before the FIFA Council, the 37-member body that runs the game's global governing body between major congresses. If 19 of those 37 members demand it, they can trigger an emergency council meeting that would put real pressure on Infantino to act. But BBC Sport understands there are doubts that the 19 votes are there.

There is a heavier weapon in the locker. An extraordinary congress of all 211 FIFA member associations can be called if 43 of them request it in writing. UEFA — European football's governing body, with 55 member nations — can trigger that whenever it wishes. A vote of no confidence at such a congress would need 106 votes to pass. The whole process would take at least two months, more likely three.

The timing is awkward for Infantino. The deadline to declare a candidacy for the FIFA presidency, ahead of a vote scheduled for Morocco in March, is 18 November, according to Reuters. That clock is already ticking.

A name has surfaced. Concacaf president Victor Montagliani — the man who runs football across North and Central America and the Caribbean — is seen as the most likely unity candidate to stand against Infantino, BBC Sport reports.

Infantino has never faced a contested election. He stood unopposed in both 2019 and 2023, re-elected by acclamation. His presidency has been defined by expanding the World Cup to 48 teams and presiding over a 2026 tournament — hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico — that he called an "incredible success story" which generated $15 billion in revenue. FIFA's own figures frame it as the most commercially successful World Cup on record.

For all that success, the private-equity misstep has given his critics an opening they have not had before. The irony is a familiar one in football politics: a president who looked untouchable a month ago is now fighting for his political life over a deal that never happened.

There is a historical ghost in the room, too. In 2015, at the height of the corruption scandal that engulfed FIFA, Sepp Blatter was re-elected as president — and resigned eight days later. Infantino will be acutely aware of how quickly the ground can shift.

The next move belongs to the council members. If they can find 19 votes, Infantino's unopposed streak ends. If they cannot, UEFA holds the power to escalate. Either way, the quiet years of acclamation are over.