THE LEADERSHIP of the world football governing body, FIFA, has reaffirmed its support for embattled president, Gianni Infantino, in a meeting held in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday.
Infantino provoked backlash from football stakeholders around the world when he announced a plan to sell a 20 per cent stake in a commercial rights entity to private investors, hoping to raise about $4.2 billion for FIFA.
The announcement was greeted with vehement criticism from stakeholders, with the European football governing body UEFA leading the lots.
UEFA released a statement almost immediately after the announcement that football was no one’s property to sell.
UEFA said it had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership and as a result, a handful of European football federation withdrew their backing for Infantino’s re-election bid come March 2027.
CONCACAF, the governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean also shared UEFA’s vote of no confidence stance against Infantino.
In a move to assuage the situation, Infantino, last Friday, announced that the proposal to sell 20 per cent stake to investors had been withdrawn.
In a statement released by FIFA on Wednesday, FIFA said members of its management board have reaffirmed their full support for President Gianni Infantino.
The statement reads:
“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.”
The statement also added that Infantino had also declared support for FIFA’s Sectary General Mattia Graftstorm.
“In turn, the FIFA President reiterated his full support for the FIFA Secretary General and the FIFA administration for their necessary and outstanding work in the delivery of his vision,” the statement said.
The statement noted that Infantino who had been President since 2016 still remains “the only official elected by the 211 FIFA member associations.”
The statement also confirmed that a separate later had been sent to FIFA council members and member associations apologising for the controversies that followed the announcement of stake sale.
“It was agreed that it was not the intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA member associations to feel excluded from the process and that the process should have been handled differently.”
FIFA said, having withdrawn the controversial proposal, it would “no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process.” (Reuters/NAN)
