By Rohith Nair
Aug 5 (Reuters) – Gianni Infantino will hold a crisis meeting with top FIFA officials in Morocco on Wednesday as he looks to shore up his position in the wake of the collapse of his gambit to sell off commercial rights to the World Cup.
The FIFA president has been the subject of a torrent of criticism, and no small amount of personal abuse, since he floated the idea of the new commercial rights body to FIFA’s 211 member associations last week.
The proposed sale of 20% of the body to private investment to raise $4.2 billion, and the involvement of a company with family links to U.S. President Donald Trump, were just the most egregious flaws in the plan for its many critics.
His backdown last Friday has done little to assuage those critics, most notably the European confederation UEFA, who accused him of selling the soul of the game and have said they no longer have confidence in his leadership.
That has cast a shadow over Infantino’s reelection for a fourth term at the FIFA Congress in Morocco in March, which looked a foregone conclusion two months ago.
A handful of European federations have withdrawn their backing for the Swiss-Italian but perhaps more damaging is the messaging coming from some of Infantino’s colleagues at FIFA.
FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom sent an internal memo to staff lamenting the “sad and reproachable series of events” that led to the project being “permanently abandoned”, two sources told Reuters.
“Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue …” the Swede added in the letter, which made no mention of Infantino by name.
His words echoed those of FIFA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour, who said last week that staff had been “deceived” over the plan which he described as “the project of one person”.
Infantino’s senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in protest at the plan last week and former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger distanced himself from it on Tuesday.
Wenger, the chief of Global Football Development at FIFA, said he was not involved in the drafting of the proposal and maintained the decision to withdraw it was “absolutely necessary”.
SURVIVE SEVEN MONTHS UNTIL THE ELECTION
Infantino has spent the last week in Morocco, which will co-host the next World Cup in 2030 and whose football association have already announced their continued support for him.
The first order of Wednesday’s meeting at FIFA’s Africa office in Sale, which sits across the Bou Regreg river from the Moroccan capital Rabat, is likely to focus on ensuring that Infantino at least survives the seven months until the election.
An Extraordinary Congress could be called if 43 or more FIFA member associations make a formal written request for one.
According to a report in the Times of London on Monday, UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) are determined to force Infantino out of office by paralysing FIFA and even starting up their own competitions if he refuses to go.
CONCACAF, the AFC and FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. UEFA said it had no comment.
CONCACAF, which runs soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, and the AFC have backed UEFA’s position, even if not every national association will follow their confederation’s lead.
Qatar, which hosted the 2022 World Cup, Kuwait, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Indonesia have declared their loyalty to Infantino in the face of the AFC’s stance.
Infantino has always enjoyed a lot of support away from the traditional heartlands of the game, where impoverished football associations rely on FIFA’s largesse to operate.
It was at those associations that his proposal was pitched, with promises of a dividend of $20 million to $40 million at the start of next year for each national body which backed the plan.
AFRICAN ADMINISTRATORS BACK INFANTINO
Leading African football administrators have sent messages of support as Infantino looks to the continent’s 54 members for backing. The African confederation (CAF) has yet to take a stance.
The executive committee of the smallest and least wealthy confederation, Oceania, will meet next Wednesday to discuss their approach.
“I think it’s going to be really interesting for the international football community over the next few weeks,” New Zealand Football boss Andrew Pragnell told Reuters on Tuesday.
“It’s really important for a country like New Zealand to make a lot of contact with its confederation. It helps when you act in unison with your confederation.”
Under FIFA rules, the vote of San Marino, whose men’s team are ranked 211th and last in the world rankings, counts as much as that of World Cup winners Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Spain.
One clear advantage for Infantino as he looks to extend his presidency until 2031 is that no clear candidate to stand against him in March’s election has yet emerged.
Jordan FA President Prince Ali bin Hussein has twice stood for the post, losing to Sepp Blatter in 2015 and finishing third behind Infantino and AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa the following year.
Prince Ali made his position on the current crisis clear on Tuesday when he accused FIFA of “blackmail”, saying that it had offered to help solve problems in exchange for endorsing Infantino.
“We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now,” Prince Ali wrote on social media.
Reuters has contacted FIFA for comment on the allegations.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair, Ian Ransom, Tim Hart and Suramya Kaushik, writing by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
