Infantino, FIFA try to move beyond botched World Cup sell-off: What we know
FIFA President Gianni Infantino survives crisis meeting over his leadership. What’s next for him, and will UEFA react? FIFA’s bid to move past the biggest
FIFA President Gianni Infantino survives crisis meeting over his leadership. What’s next for him, and will UEFA react? FIFA’s bid to move past the biggest internal crisis of President Gianni Infantino’s reign is unlikely to end scrutiny of how world football is governed as questions linger over whether promised reforms will lead to meaningful change before the March presidential election. After FIFA’s leadership gathered in Rabat to publicly reaffirm support for Infantino, the governing body apologised on Wednesday to its 211 members for mistakes surrounding the abandoned proposal to sell a slice of the World Cup’s commercial future. FIFA also pledged to review the processes that led to the controversy that sparked the fiercest revolt of Infantino’s decade-long tenure after national federations complained they had been sidelined. In a statement issued after Wednesday’s meeting, FIFA acknowledged that the proposal “should have been handled differently” and said it was not its intention for the FIFA Council or associations to feel excluded from the process. How will FIFA review Infantino’s failed World Cup sell-off? As the dust settles, a review will now be conducted before a report is presented to the council at its next meeting. The conciliatory tone marked a stark contrast with the increasingly public criticism that forced FIFA into a retreat. However, FIFA can no longer dodge questions raised by several confederations, leagues and national associations over how major strategic decisions are made and communicated, and the concerns extend beyond the doomed commercial rights proposal. The European Leagues criticised FIFA over what it described as an unrealistically short four-week assessment timeline on a separate proposal to expand the 2030 World Cup from 48 to 64 teams.
The body, which represents more than 1,300 European clubs, reinforced complaints that stakeholders are too often presented with decisions rather than consulted on them. However, FIFA insists that all actions taken over the commercial rights proposal complied with its regulations and stressed that mistakes were related to process and communications rather than breaches of governance rules. FIFA also tried to present a united front, warning critics that with the project now abandoned, it would “no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process”. How is the lay of the political land for FIFA after Infantino plan? For Infantino, the immediate priority has been containing the political fallout before March’s presidential election in Morocco, where he will seek a fourth term through 2031. Wednesday’s meeting delivered that objective with FIFA’s management board and Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom publicly endorsing the president while Infantino returned the backing by praising the administration’s work. Grafstrom had sent an internal memo to staff lamenting the “sad and reproachable series of events” and although he did not mention Infantino by name, he noted that “individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go.” Any suggestion of lingering tensions, however, appeared to have been set aside publicly with Infantino later posting a photo of the pair smiling for the camera and giving a thumbs-up at a women’s Africa Cup of Nations match in Rabat. Will UEFA continue to pursue change at the top of FIFA? Several influential stakeholders, including European football’s governing body UEFA, have openly questioned Infantino’s leadership while criticism has also emerged from confederations like CONCACAF, which runs the game in North and Central America and the Caribbean, and the Asian Football Confederation.
The BriefWire