Aug 1 (Reuters) – FIFA President Gianni Infantino is under unprecedented fire after regional confederations UEFA and CONCACAF said on Saturday they had lost confidence in his leadership following his abandoned plan to sell a stake in World Cup commercial rights.
The dramatic fallout from Infantino’s scrapped $4.2-billion proposal has exposed growing unease within world soccer over his leadership style, with European governing body UEFA leading a chorus of criticism that could complicate his re-election hopes.
FIFA’s proposal had triggered a fierce backlash from regional confederations who said they were blindsided by Infantino’s plans to sell stakes to private investors in a new unit that would run FIFA events, including the World Cup.
Football officials are now demanding greater oversight of decisions that could reshape the governance and commercial future of the sport.
UEFA, whose 55 members had unanimously rejected the proposal earlier this week, declared FIFA’s retreat a “victory for the whole game” while adding that the “task of rebuilding trust in FIFA” had only just begun.
“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” UEFA said in a statement.
“UEFA thanks all the fans, leagues, clubs, players, individuals, associations and confederations that opposed the scheme, alongside the many Prime Ministers, Heads of State and commentators who have demonstrated to the FIFA President that football is not for sale,” it said in a statement.
“We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast-track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account.”
North America, Central America and the Caribbean confederation CONCACAF said the proposal was advanced outside all established governance processes, with no transparency, consultation or due process.
“A proposal of this magnitude does not reach that stage by accident. It is a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first,” it said.
“This recent unilateral and egregious act of poor governance and leadership follows a pattern of missteps and similar behaviour. A comprehensive reckoning with this presidency is imperative.”
“SHABBY, BACK-ROOM OPAQUE DEAL”
The backlash raised questions about Infantino’s political capital as he prepares to seek another term in office.
UEFA reminded Infantino about the promises he made when he was elected FIFA president in 2016, including pledges to run the governing body transparently and to treat FIFA’s funds as belonging to its member associations.
“On both these promises, he has failed to deliver. The shabby, back-room, opaque deal he hatched and tried to force through was anything but transparent,” UEFA added.
“And with reserves standing at over $5 billion, he has also failed to use associations’ money for the benefit of the game.
“UEFA will begin work immediately with partners and stakeholders all over the world and right across the game to propose a new way of distributing resources through the existing FIFA Forward programme.”
FIFA and Infantino declined to comment on UEFA’s statement.
The Dutch FA said the process led to a “fundamental breach of trust” in Infantino, while German FA chief Bernd Neuendorf said the Swiss official “acted unilaterally and without transparency”, failing to operate in the sport’s best interests.
Spanish LaLiga President Javier Tebas called for Infantino’s resignation, saying that the withdrawal of the proposal was good news but did not resolve the governance problem.
“The problem was never just one proposal. The problem is a governance model that concentrates power, reduces checks and balances and marginalises those directly affected by its decisions,” he said on social media.
“I believe that Gianni Infantino should not continue in charge of FIFA. World football needs new leadership to modernise its governance, regain institutional credibility and make future decisions in consultation with those involved,” he added.
However, Infantino received support from Qatar, who said the proposal had merit and fully supported his efforts.
The president of the Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), Fouzi Lekjaa, also welcomed the decision to withdraw the proposal but reiterated his support for Infantino.
STORM OF OPPOSITION
Infantino’s plan, announced on Tuesday, quickly ran into a storm of opposition from regional confederations, who complained they had not been consulted on a move that could alter the commercial structure of world football.
Following the backlash, Infantino said world soccer’s governing body had abandoned the plans after listening “carefully to all the views”.
Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa on Saturday welcomed FIFA’s reversal.
Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman said he expected that “any initiative that has the potential to impact global football will be presented and discussed with the Confederations, the FIFA Council, Member Associations and other stakeholders in a timely, transparent and meaningful manner.”
“The future of global football must always be shaped through proper consultation, collective dialogue and respect for the established governance structures of our game.”
INFANTINO’S RE-ELECTION HOPES DAMAGED, SAY EXPERTS
The controversy comes at an awkward moment for Infantino, who said in April that he intended to seek re-election for a fourth term as FIFA president.
Since taking over from Sepp Blatter in 2016, he has been re-elected unopposed twice and appeared firmly in control of the organisation.
While his re-election for the 2027-31 term had appeared a formality, experts told Reuters the backlash against the failed proposal exposed dissatisfaction among some FIFA members and could complicate his path ahead of March’s Congress in Morocco.
“He’s obviously been kind of egomaniacal in everything that he’s done. I know that he’s rubbed many of the member associations the wrong way with some of his decisions,” Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing analyst, said.
The speed of the turnaround has been particularly striking, coming less than two weeks after Infantino was toasting the most commercially successful World Cup in history.
“As close as two weeks ago, he’s riding on top of the world, the most successful sports mega event in the history of this planet,” said economist Victor Matheson, a sports business expert at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.
“And just two weeks later, he’s fighting for his political life.”
(Reporting by Kokkai Ng in Singapore, Aadi Nair and Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Angelica Medina in Mexico City, Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Clare Fallon and Ken Ferris)
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