Uefa says it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s Fifa leadership as the fallout from the scrapped controversial investment plan intensifies.
On Saturday, Infantino said Fifa would no longer proceed with the proposal to sell stakes in the governing body’s competitions to private investors.
Uefa – which governs European football – had earlier voted to boycott World Cups if the plans went ahead, and other governing bodies also voiced their opposition.
On Saturday, Uefa said it welcomed the decision to withdraw the plan, describing it as “a victory for the whole game”.
It also accused Infantino of failing to deliver on promises, quoting a speech he gave when campaigning to become Fifa president in 2016.
The fallout from the plans means Infantino is now under immense pressure as he seeks re-election for a fourth term as president at the Fifa Congress in March.
“The current Fifa leadership has not only lost Uefa’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” Uefa’s statement read.
“When Gianni Infantino asked for the trust and the votes of Fifa’s member associations to elect him as their president in 2016, he said: ‘Of course we have to be transparent.’
“He told the assembled stakeholders: ‘The money of Fifa is your money. It’s not the money of the Fifa president. You are the national associations and the money of Fifa has to serve for the development of football and not for anything else.’
“On both these promises, he has failed to deliver. The shabby, back room, opaque deal he hatched and tried to force through were anything but transparent.”
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham – who was the first leader of a major country to call on Infantino to resign – said Fifa made “the right decision” to back down.
