Published on •Updated
FIFA President Gianni Infantino is set to remain in office following a crisis meeting in Morocco on Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Infantino met with senior executives from the world football governing body, including Secretary General Mattias Grafström, in Rabat to discuss the fallout from FIFA’s disastrous private investment plan announcement last week.
The scrapped proposal, which would have invited third parties to take minority, non-controlling investments in a new commercial subsidiary dubbed the “FIFA Forward Enterprise” (FFE), sparked fierce backlash from across the football community and saw some within FIFA attempt to distance themselves from the situation, including Grafström.
Despite this, FIFA issued a statement late on Wednesday saying that Infantino retained the “full support” of Grafström and members of the FIFA management board.
According to the statement, FIFA acknowledged that “mistakes” were made with regards to the FFE, which the governing body had said could raise up to $4.2 billion based on an initial equity valuation of $20 billion.
“It was agreed that it was not the intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations to feel excluded from the process and that the process should have been handled differently,” it said. “It was further acknowledged that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media”.
FIFA said a letter had also been delivered to its member associations apologising for the “errors” and “with a commitment to ensure they do not happen again.”
It also reaffirmed that the FFE plan had been shelved.
Moving forward, FIFA said it would “no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation.”
It comes after The Times of London had earlier reported that Infantino, who was first elected as FIFA president in 2016, had promised Morocco that it could host the 2030 World Cup final if it signalled its support for him. FIFA has denied the claim, calling it “false and misleading” and saying a decision on the host would be made “in due course.”
Infantino clings on
The statement comes amid growing calls for the beleaguered president to resign.
Earlier on Wednesday, Portugal legend Luis Figo delivered a scathing review of Infantino’s time as president, saying he had “debased the office that he promised to elevate.”
“He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve,” the former Real Madrid and Barcelona star wrote in a post on social media. “It is too late to save his dignity but it is not too late to save football. He should go. Now.”
European football governing body UEFA has been particularly vocal in its criticism of Infantino and the FFE and threatened to boycott FIFA events over the investment proposal.
“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” UEFA said after FIFA announced it was binning the plan.
Several football associations, including Wales, Serbia, and Sweden, have also announced that they were withdrawing support for Infantino’s re-election bid over the FFE plan, while politicians including British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Canadian PM Mark Carney have blasted the FIFA boss over the debacle.
“I don’t have confidence in Mr. Infantino after this point,” Carney said on Wednesday.
Infantino had already been under scrutiny over FIFA’s handling of a number of incidents at the 2026 World Cup, which was held across the US, Canada, and Mexico, as well as his relationship with US President Donald Trump.
