FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, has been in hot water for a while now. This stems from a secret plan to sell a stake of the World Cup to private investors. Since then, there have been calls for him to resign.
In reaction to this, Infantino had a crisis meeting with the FIFA management council. Despite the pressure, Infantino has remained in his position. This hasn't gone down well.
According to Sky Sports, Infantino completed a seven-hour marathon meeting with senior FIFA staff on Wednesday before being pictured smiling alongside secretary general, Mattias Grafstrom, at a Women's AFCON match in Morocco.
The gathering followed intense fallout over a collapsed plan to sell commercial stakes in the World Cup to private investors; prompting figures like Luis Figo to call for his immediate departure.
However, Infantino maintains that he is directly accountable to the 211 member associations that comprise FIFA rather than his vocal critics. By calculating that he holds firm backing from member nations across Africa, Asia and South America; Infantino remains determined to cling to power.
The political maneuvering comes amid severe criticism from prominent football figures. Luis Figo launched a scathing assessment of Infantino, describing his conduct as "the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behaviour" while asserting that Infantino has debased his office and "should go. Now."
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger, FIFA's chief of global football development, distanced himself from the aborted commercial strategy. Wenger publicly clarified that he was excluded from the plan, stating, "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." These statements highlight the deep divisions currently fracturing the organisation.
Reports have also emerged suggesting Infantino offered Morocco the host rights for the 2030 World Cup final at Casablanca's new Hassan II Stadium in exchange for public backing.
Morocco, alongside Spain and Portugal, will co-host the 2030 tournament, with Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu previously considered the frontrunner.
However, FIFA moved quickly to deny making any guarantees regarding the showpiece fixture. A FIFA spokesperson clarified that "it is untrue and misleading to claim that the FIFA president made any promises regarding the staging of the 2030 World Cup final" and confirmed that a decision will only be taken at the appropriate time.
FIFA's leadership apologised on Wednesday following the controversy over the plan to open the World Cup to private investment while reaffirming its "full support" for president Gianni Infantino.
In a statement, FIFA's leadership acknowledged "that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media."
"Following a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, the FIFA Secretary General and members of the FIFA Management Board in attendance reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations," the statement added.
Infantino has come under increasing pressure, even from within his organisation, over his handling of the proposal and calls for him to step down have grown since he abandoned it last Saturday.
FIFA floated the plan, saying it could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for a new commercial subsidiary, called the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE); which it proposed would run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.
It said that, if approved, the project could provide each of FIFA's 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027, and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $8 million to $20 million.
Instead of acting as a sweetener, it produced a furious backlash; with European football's governing body UEFA resorting on Thursday to the nuclear option of boycotting the sport's jewel in the crown, the World Cup.
By Saturday, Infantino held his hands up and withdrew the plan. "Our purpose has always been - and will always be - to unite and improve," said Infantino.
UEFA has issued a statement saying its 55 member associations remain committed to boycotting FIFA competitions, stressing that the global governing body has failed to meet their key conditions for returning.
European football’s governing body voted unanimously last Thursday to withdraw from all FIFA events following the announcement by FIFA President Gianni Infantino that the global body would seek to sell minority stakes in World Cups and other events.
Infantino has since withdrawn the proposal and, under mounting pressure from across the sport, received the backing of the global body’s leadership at a meeting in Morocco on Wednesday.
UEFA, however, has said that the withdrawal of Infantino’s sell-off plan wasn't its only requirement for renewed collaboration with FIFA.
"UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to their non-participation in FIFA competitions," the statement read. "First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again. These conditions have not been met," the group said.
FIFA and Infantino tried to present a united front following the high-level summit, saying the president had the full support of those in attendance. Football’s governing body even apologised to its own council and member associations for errors and committed to “ensure they do not happen again."
UEFA remained dissatisfied and issued a defiant message, pointing clearly to its position on who holds the top job at FIFA.
"UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency. That position holds," Thursday’s statement added.
"Yesterday’s (Wednesday) announcement that some people employed by the FIFA President (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing."
UEFA confirmed on Tuesday that they had issued FIFA with a "document preservation letter" – an action that seeks to ensure that no potential evidence for ongoing or potential future legal action is deleted or destroyed.
The continental body’s vice president, Laura McAllister, said earlier on Thursday that any future FIFA president should be a "custodian of the sport" capable of uniting world football as pressure grows on the embattled current chief.
"There’s so much politics around this. There’s such an imperative to get a candidate who could unite the whole world of football, not just Europe in this case," McAllister said in an interview with the broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
The first test of UEFA’s boycott of FIFA events comes on 5 September, when Poland is set to host the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup.
Jordan Football Association President, Ali bin Hussein, launched a public attack on FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Tuesday, accusing him of "blackmail" and claiming FIFA offered to help solve the kingdom's problems in exchange for his endorsement.
Bin Hussein alleged that FIFA verbally communicated during the World Cup that endorsing Infantino "would go a long way to helping our FA out" after months of the world soccer governing body refusing assistance on various matters.
"We pride ourselves in Jordan in upholding ethical values. We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now," Bin Hussein wrote on X. "But the whole situation amounts to blackmail and we refuse to give in to that."
The Jordan FA chief outlined a number of grievances facing his association as a small nation with a "minimal budget."
These included fans paying "exorbitant prices for tickets" while still being denied visas for the World Cup in the United States and outstanding reward money for players' participation in the 2025 Arab Cup; a FIFA-organised tournament.
Adding to Jordan's woes, Bin Hussein complained about being taxed by the U.S. government through FIFA for World Cup participation - costs not faced by teams based in Canada and Mexico.
"We are being taxed by the U.S. government through FIFA for our participation. Money that should go to players and staff," he added. "This was not the case for those who played and set up camp in Canada and Mexico. But we happened to be in the USA so now we face these huge costs in taxes for having participated."
Jordan qualified for the World Cup for the first time but exited in the group stage.
The association has also been waiting since December for reward money for reaching the Arab Cup final in Qatar.
"The money our team should receive for having reached the final has not been delivered yet, while at the same time FIFA brags about how many billions they have in reserve," Bin Hussein added.
Jordan’s players and staff have now received outstanding reward money for their participation in the 2025 Arab Cup, Jordan Football Association’s (FA) president Prince Ali bin Hussein said on Thursday, two days after he accused Fifa of blackmail.
Prince Ali criticised FIFA president Gianni Infantino after he backed out of his proposal to sell a stake in the World Cup and found himself under pressure from confederations and national associations; saying FIFA had offered to help solve the kingdom’s problems in exchange for his endorsement.
"Thank you to the Fifa administration for suddenly this morning delivering what was owed to our players and coaching staff, for the Jordan National team’s accession to the final of the Fifa Arab Cup in Qatar last December," Prince Ali said on X. "This was funding that should have been received eight months ago,” he said.
Prince Ali added that receiving the money was a welcome development but that it wouldn't change the concerns his organisation had about FIFA’s leadership.
"It is symptomatic of those exact difficulties that we all face and that are usually linked to the Fifa presidential elections," he added. "And it does not change my clear position concerning the leadership of Fifa: my FA and I will not endorse president Infantino, nor will we vote for him," he said.
I would've loved to be a fly on the wall when the crisis meeting took place. I just can't believe that FIFA have backed Infantino once again. If I was there, there would be nothing that he could say that would ease my anger.
I'm fully with UEFA and Jordan FA. Infantino needs to be ousted. I can only predict that Infantino will continue with his current attitude and ideas; as long he remains in power.
I hope UEFA carry out their threat. International tournaments will feel hollow and empty without European teams.