Key facts
- FIFA president Gianni Infantino has led the organization since 2016 and is meeting management board members in Rabat, Morocco
- Member associations reportedly faced a 19 September deadline to approve the now-scrapped commercial sell-off plan or lose extra funding
- Senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned last Friday, calling the plan ‘a bad deal for football’
- UEFA said it has lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership; Wales has withdrawn support for his re-election and England is reportedly set to follow
- FIFA COO Kevin Lamour said the plan was ‘the project of one person’ and that FIFA’s administration was ‘deceived’
- Jordanian FA president Prince Ali accused FIFA of using unpaid prize money as leverage, a claim BBC Sport says is unverified
What happened
FIFA president Gianni Infantino summoned members of the organization’s management board to a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, according to BBC Sport, as internal and external criticism grows over his now-abandoned “FIFA Forward Enterprise” plan, which would have sold off parts of FIFA’s commercial and event operations. The meeting is expected to include secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, finance chief Thomas Peyer, legal chief Emilio Garcia Silvero, chief of staff Daniel O’Toole, chief of member associations Elkhan Mammadov and media relations director Bryan Swanson. BBC Sport reports the exact purpose of the meeting is unclear, but Infantino is expected to try to repair relationships within FIFA’s inner circle to preserve his position.
How the crisis unfolded
According to BBC Sport, Grafstrom sent an internal memo to FIFA staff strongly criticizing recent events, calling them “a sad and reproachable series of events” that were “difficult to comprehend and accept.” Days earlier, FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said the private investment plan was “the project of one person,” adding that FIFA’s own administration had been “deceived.” Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s chief of global football development, said publicly he was “not involved” in the proposal and called its cancellation “absolutely necessary and beyond question.”
Carlos Cordeiro, who served as Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned last Friday over the plan, describing it as “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future.” In his resignation statement, Cordeiro raised a series of unanswered questions about the proposal that BBC Sport says Infantino is likely to face again at Wednesday’s meeting. Member associations reportedly had been given a 19 September deadline to approve the plan or forfeit additional funding tied to the deal.
Wider fallout among member associations
Prince Ali, president of the Jordanian Football Association, accused FIFA of creating a situation that “amounts to blackmail,” tying unpaid prize money and support to member associations backing Infantino’s re-election. BBC Sport states these non-payment claims have not been independently verified but reflect the depth of opposition to Infantino among member federations. UEFA said over the weekend that it had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership. Wales has withdrawn support for his re-election, and BBC Sport reports England is expected to follow.
Where things stand
Infantino has led FIFA since 2016. Yahoo Sports notes his standing has shifted dramatically from attending the World Cup final alongside Donald Trump to now holding emergency talks with his own directors with his position at stake, though it does not provide further detail beyond that framing. No outcome from the Rabat meeting has been reported yet.
Sources
Featured photo: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)