Infantino is under fire as Wenger and FIFA ally Grafstrom criticise abandoned World Cup investment plan.
PARIS: Pressure on FIFA president Gianni Infantino intensified on Tuesday, with opposition emerging from within world football’s governing body as well as from external critics over his abandoned proposal to open the World Cup to private investment.
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, appointed in 2019 by Infantino as FIFA’s chief of global football development, said in a statement that “the decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question”.
His remarks followed an extraordinary internal email to FIFA staff, seen by AFP, in which secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom appeared to distance himself from Infantino on the issue. Previously seen as close to Infantino, Grafstrom described the fiasco surrounding the plan as “a sad and reproachable series of events”.
He added: “Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue.”
FIFA floated the plan last Tuesday, saying it could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for a new commercial subsidiary, the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which it proposed would run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup. By Saturday, it was dead in the water as Infantino announced the humiliating climbdown after widespread condemnation, with UEFA wielding the nuclear option of boycotting all FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
Far from calming the waters or shoring up his presidency, Infantino has been swamped with criticism of his style of leadership. A previously smooth path to being re-elected unopposed to a fourth and final term next March in Rabat now looks a very rocky one indeed. He has reportedly summoned FIFA staff to a crisis meeting in the Moroccan capital as he attempts to cling onto power.
Several of UEFA’s member associations, Wales, Finland, Sweden and Serbia, have withdrawn their letters of support for Infantino and the English FA is strongly rumoured to be on the verge of also joining them.
Jordanian FA president Prince Ali bin Hussein, twice a FIFA presidential candidate, accused FIFA of “blackmail” in a remarkable statement. Prince Ali said he was told verbally that endorsing Infantino for re-election “could go a long way to helping our FA out”. The federation had complained about not being paid for Jordan’s run to last year’s FIFA Arab Cup final, and about its team’s fans not being given visas to watch their World Cup debut in the United States.
