Assailed by criticism after its aborted project of opening to private investors, FIFA management recognized “errors” and presented “apologies”, nevertheless displaying “full support” for President Gianni Infantino, Wednesday after a crisis meeting in Morocco.
This meeting, which was not open to the press, was held at the FIFA Africa headquarters, within the Mohammed VI complex in Salé, near Rabat.
FIFA management released a statement late in the evening in which it acknowledged “that errors were made after the proposal was leaked to the media.” “An apology has been offered for these errors, accompanied by a commitment to ensure that they do not happen again.”
“It was agreed that there was no intention to exclude the FIFA Council and the FIFA member associations from the process and that it should have been managed differently,” admits the press release, without mentioning Mr. Infantino by name.
“In this specific case, however, it is important to emphasize that, although mistakes were made, everything that was done was done in strict compliance with FIFA’s regulatory framework,” the text adds.
Senior leaders rushed to the aid of Gianni Infantino, attacked from all sides in recent days. “The FIFA Governing Council members present reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino as the sole official elected by FIFA’s 211 member associations,” the statement said.
FIFA “will no longer tolerate any infringement”
“The project having been abandoned, it is understood that FIFA will no longer tolerate any attack on its integrity, good governance and respect for due process and that it will take all necessary measures to protect and preserve its name and reputation,” the text continues.
Infantino, criticized by some of his close collaborators, seems to be giving up. In particular, he reiterates “his full support to the FIFA Secretary General (Mattias Grafström) and the FIFA Administration for their indispensable and remarkable work in implementing his vision.” Grafström, in a letter to FIFA employees and consulted by AFP, regretted “a series of sad and condemnable events”.
Gianni Infantino, who attended the Zambia-Malawi match of the Women’s African Cup of Nations on Wednesday evening in Rabat, has been at the head of the body for ten years. Italo-Switzerland has multiplied divisive projects, until announcing last week that it wanted to create an external company (FIFA Forward Enterprise, FFE) to manage the commercial activities of the body and tournaments such as the World Cups, with the arrival of private investors.
Presented to everyone’s surprise last Tuesday after it was revealed by the press, the project was finally withdrawn during the night from Friday to Saturday in the face of opposition from numerous football players, including the European confederation (UEFA).
Several FIFA executives have distanced themselves from Infantino in recent days, including Arsène Wenger, current director of world football development within the body.
Gianni Infantino’s main advisor, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned on Friday, saying he was “categorically” opposed to Infantino’s project.
Political pressures
On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney added his voice to that of his British counterpart Andy Burnham to castigate the FIFA boss. “I certainly have no confidence in Mr. Infantino, after what happened,” said Mr. Carney, “the idea that good governance consists of not disclosing information to one’s closest advisors (…) is fatal.”
On Friday, Mr. Burnham judged that Gianni Infantino was “the wrong person to lead” FIFA.
In the world of football, pressure came from the powerful UEFA and Concacaf (North American and Caribbean confederation). Concacaf thus requested last week a “complete review” of the governance of the FIFA president, while UEFA, which had threatened a boycott of the World Cups to win its case, said it had “lost confidence” in Infantino.
Infantino is for the moment the only declared candidate for his own succession at the head of FIFA, during a vote which will take place in March 2027 in Rabat.
The 56-year-old Italian-Swiss needs a majority of the 211 member federations to win a new and final four-year mandate. So far, a handful of federations (Finland, Wales, Serbia, Sweden) have officially withdrawn their support.
