Embattled FIFA chief Gianni Infantino target of letter from three confederations
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FIFA president Gianni Infantino at an event at a soccer school in Cali, Colombia on Aug 7. He visited sports training clubs ahead of the inauguration of Abelardo de la Espriella as the country’s president.
PHOTO: EPA
- Three football confederations – UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC – condemned FIFA president Gianni Infantino for breaking trust and called for an independent review of his abandoned plan.
- Infantino faces criticism over his proposal to sell 20% of World Cup commercial rights to private investors, raising US$4.2 billion, with threats of tournament boycotts from major confederations.
- Despite some member associations still supporting him, around 70 have withdrawn or refused support, reflecting deep divisions and loss of confidence in his leadership.
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Lausanne – FIFA president Gianni Infantino came under renewed fire on Aug 10, as a joint letter from three confederations – UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC – declared football “belongs to no individual”.
The 56-year-old has been the butt of scathing criticism ever since launching, and then withdrawing within days, a plan to bring in private investment into FIFA competitions, including the World Cups.
The statement, which stopped just short of openly calling for a new leadership, said that he had broken trust “through deception” with the now abandoned proposal, had “placed himself above the collective” and the three confederations called for a fully independent review of what had happened.
On Aug 8, as Infantino attended the inauguration of Colombia’s new right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, FIFA had hit back at “a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine” football’s world governing body and its leader.
Its statement came after reports by The Daily Telegraph about payments made by UEFA to a former employee during Infantino’s time as the European governing body’s general secretary, allegations he has denied and that FIFA has rejected as unfounded.
However, the Aug 10 letter from the governing bodies of European football (UEFA), North and Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC), who together account for 143 out of FIFA’s 211 member associations, showed that his critics were unbowed.
“Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding – or demanding – power to be held,” they wrote.
“Football’s strength has always been its unity,” their open letter to the football family said. “We call for that unity to be honoured now, for leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it.”
The Swiss administrator has faced open revolt in the football world over his plan to carve off the commercial rights to the World Cup and sell 20 per cent of them to private investors to raise about US$4.2 billion (S$5.4 billion).
UEFA, backed by the AFC and CONCACAF, has threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments until they receive a promise that no similar schemes will be proposed in the future.
Bloomberg reported that UEFA has already begun discussions over holding international tournaments that rival FIFA’s, according to people familiar with the matter.
The three confederations also criticised a FIFA emergency meeting in Morocco last week, saying there was only one elected official present, while also calling for an independent review which FIFA would have no role in, to determine what led to this “profound failure of judgment”.
Although Infantino had received the “full support” of senior FIFA directors at the meeting, the confederations said it was meaningless.
US Soccer and Canada Soccer on Aug 10 backed the confederations’ stance, saying FIFA needed “meaningful” change.
“US Soccer, Canada Soccer, CFU (Caribbean Football Union) and UNCAF (Central American Football Union) stand together, along with our colleagues around the world, in calling for meaningful change that strengthens FIFA’s governance, transparency and accountability,” they said in a statement.
The US and Canada co-hosted the 2026 World Cup with Mexico.
CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani is viewed as a potential challenger to Infantino, who will seek a fourth and final term at the FIFA presidential election in Rabat in March 2027. Candidates have to be declared by Nov 18.
But confederations do not vote as blocs and almost 70 of the member associations have said publicly they will vote for Infantino, with around a dozen either withdrawing previously promised support or saying they will not vote for him.
UEFA apart, the confederations which say they have lost confidence in Infantino are not completely united – with several Asian nations, as well as Mexico from CONCACAF, backing him.
Infantino, who has been FIFA boss for 10 years, has received the backing of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) while South American governing body CONMEBOL is largely supportive.
Infantino had been basking in the afterglow of a hugely successful World Cup – the largest ever, involving 48 teams.
However, the confederations made clear in the letter that it was not just Infantino who had made this possible. “The growth over the past decade has been real,” they said.
“But that progress was never the work of one individual.
“It was the product of FIFA, the confederations, the member associations, and the thousands of people who dedicate their lives to the game.”
The confederations signed off their letter by claiming that under Infantino’s leadership, “there is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness”.
They added: “That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve. Football’s strength has always been its unity.” AFP, REUTERS
