Infantino summons crisis talks in Morocco as Fifa revolt deepens

Gianni Infantino has called Fifa’s senior leadership to an emergency meeting in Rabat on Wednesday, as opposition to his plan to sell off the governing body’s commercial and event operations continues to grow from within his own organisation.

The Fifa president, who has spent the past week in Morocco, is understood to be seeking a way through the row over what has been dubbed the Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme. The plan would see outside investors take stakes in Fifa’s commercial and tournament operations.

Arsene Wenger, Fifa’s chief of global football development since 2019, issued a statement through the organisation making clear he wants the proposal dropped entirely. “The decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question, because I firmly believe in an independent Fifa that serves our game with commitment, transparency, and integrity,” the former Arsenal manager said.

Wenger, who once backed Infantino’s now-shelved idea of a biennial men’s World Cup, also insisted he had no involvement in drawing up the investment plan. “I was not involved in this strategic plan and first became aware of the project through media reports,” he said.

Secretary general and Prince Ali join the criticism

Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafstrom has also broken cover, describing the past week internally as “a sad and reproachable series of events” in an email sent to staff. His intervention adds significant weight to the internal pushback against Infantino’s leadership.

Prince Ali of Jordan, president of the Jordanian Football Association and a long-standing critic of Infantino, went further still, accusing Fifa of effectively holding member federations to ransom. He alleged the situation “amounts to blackmail” over unpaid prize money and support for Infantino’s re-election bid.

The controversy has already claimed one senior scalp. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned last week, branding the sell-off plan “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future”.

Uefa threatens legal action

The row has spilled beyond Fifa’s own ranks. Uefa has sent a document preservation letter to Fifa warning of possible legal action, naming 18 Fifa officials, including Wenger, who could be drawn into any dispute over the handling of the plan.

European football’s governing body has previously made clear its fierce opposition to any sale of stakes in Fifa’s World Cup and commercial assets, and the pressure from within Fifa’s own senior ranks now appears to be reinforcing that stance.

Wednesday’s meeting in the Moroccan capital will be closely watched across world football, with Infantino facing calls from multiple directions – Uefa, national associations and now his own most senior colleagues – to abandon the plan altogether rather than attempt to modify it.

Read more: Fifa scraps World Cup investment plan after Uefa boycott threat

Sources

• BBC Sport
• Sky Sports

This is an independent report written from the facts across the sources named above.