Key facts
- Infantino has called a FIFA executive meeting in Rabat, Morocco for Wednesday amid backlash over the scrapped ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’ investment sell-off plan.
- Secretary general Mattias Grafström called the episode ‘a sad and reproachable series of events’; global development chief Arsène Wenger said scrapping the plan was ‘absolutely necessary and beyond question.’
- Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on strategy and governance, resigned, calling the plan ‘a bad deal for football.’
- Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of the Jordan FA accuses FIFA of ‘blackmail,’ saying Arab Cup runner-up prize money owed since December has not been paid.
- Infantino said before the World Cup final he had over 200 of 211 member associations’ letters of support for re-election, but England, Wales, Finland, Serbia and reportedly Greece have since withdrawn backing.
- SB Nation cites a New York Times report alleging FIFA verbally promised US host cities $1 million legacy payments each that have not been paid; UEFA has sent a document preservation letter naming 18 FIFA officials, including Wenger.
What happened
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has called a meeting of senior officials for Wednesday in Rabat, Morocco, according to BBC Sport, as he tries to contain fallout from his now-scrapped plan to sell off parts of FIFA’s commercial and event operations to private investors. Infantino had been in Morocco for the past week. BBC Sport reports the Rabat meeting is expected to include secretary general Mattias Grafström and members of FIFA’s management board: 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.
The scrapped investment plan and who has broken ranks
The controversy centers on what was called the “FIFA Forward Enterprise,” a proposal to sell stakes in FIFA’s commercial and event businesses to outside investors. SB Nation reports that Josh Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, had been positioned as the lead investor in the plan. The proposal drew immediate backlash, including from UEFA, whose member nations reportedly agreed to boycott future tournaments, including World Cups, if the plan went ahead, and which has signaled it could push a no-confidence vote against Infantino if he does not step back.
Two senior FIFA figures have now publicly distanced themselves from the plan. Secretary general Mattias Grafström described the episode in an internal staff email as “a sad and reproachable series of events,” according to both BBC Sport and The Guardian. FIFA’s chief of global football development, Arsène Wenger, said in a statement issued through FIFA that withdrawing the plan was “absolutely necessary and beyond question” and said he only learned of the project through media reports, not through direct involvement. Wenger, in his role since 2019, had previously backed Infantino’s push for a biennial men’s World Cup. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, has resigned over the matter, calling the proposal “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future” — the only FIFA official to have quit so far. Separately, Wenger is named among 18 FIFA officials in a document preservation letter UEFA sent threatening legal action.
Prince Ali’s blackmail allegation
Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, president of the Jordan Football Association and head of the West Asian Football Federation, accused FIFA leadership of “blackmail” in a statement posted on X. He said Jordan’s players still have not been paid prize money owed since December for finishing runners-up at the FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar. According to Prince Ali, FIFA had refused for months to assist Jordan on this and other issues — including visa problems for fans who had bought World Cup tickets and tax complaints related to being based in the United States during the tournament — until he was told verbally during the World Cup that endorsing Infantino’s re-election “would go a long way” toward resolving Jordan’s problems. Prince Ali, who finished third against Infantino in the 2016 FIFA presidential election, said Jordan did not endorse Infantino previously and will not now. Ahead of the World Cup final, Infantino said he had received letters of support for re-election from more than 200 of FIFA’s 211 member associations, with Jordan among the holdouts.
Separate allegation on host-city payments
SB Nation cites a New York Times report, based on four anonymous executives at U.S. host-city committees, alleging FIFA management repeatedly promised each host city a $1 million legacy contribution verbally and in meetings, without ever making a public statement to that effect. According to the report, that money has not been paid.
Where support for Infantino stands
The Guardian reports that federations including England, Wales, Finland and Serbia have withdrawn previously pledged support for Infantino’s continuation, with Greece understood to be the latest to pull backing. More European federations are reportedly expected to follow, and several CONCACAF nations are said to be considering withdrawing support as well.
Sources
Featured photo: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)