Infantino has been the butt of scathing criticism ever since launching, and then withdrawing within days, a plan to bring private investment into FIFA competitions, including World Cups. However, Monday’s letter from the governing bodies of European football (UEFA), North and Central America (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC), showed his critics are unbowed.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino came under renewed fire on Monday as a joint letter from three confederations — UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC — declared football “belongs to no individual”. FIFA had hit back on Saturday at “a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine” football’s governing body and Infantino.
Key Factors
UEFA’s threat to boycott World Cups if the private investment plan went ahead — in theory depriving the competition of teams including reigning men’s champions Spain and 2026 semi-finalists France and England — proved pivotal in Infantino withdrawing his plan. The 56-year-old Swiss, who has been in situ for 10 years, has received the backing of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) while South American governing body CONMEBOL are largely supportive.
“FIFA’s recent letter to its Vice-Presidents and 211 Member Associations acknowledges that mistakes were made in the process,” they said. the confederations said it was meaningless Although Infantino had received the “full support” of senior FIFA directors last week in an emergency meeting he called in Morocco. “This recent meeting, where a select number of members of the FIFA Management Committee — not the full Committee — were summoned abroad, rather than leadership going to Zurich to address the heart of FIFA, its staff, only reinforces these concerns and represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment,” they said. “The growth over the past decade has been real,” they said.
