Soccer-Infantino holds crisis meeting in Morocco as FIFA stake sale fallout continues

FIFA President Gianni Infantino held a crisis meeting with senior officials in Morocco to shore up support following the collapse of his proposal to sell commercial rights linked to the World Cup.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino held a crisis meeting with senior officials of world soccer's governing ​body in Morocco on Wednesday as he sought to shore up support following the collapse of his ‌proposal to ​sell off commercial rights linked to the World Cup. Vehicles believed to be carrying Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom were seen leaving FIFA's Africa office in Sale after the meeting, which came amid mounting criticism of Infantino's leadership ahead of next year's presidential election in the governing body.

The gathering, attended by senior FIFA executives at its Africa office across the Bou Regreg river from Rabat, followed last week's withdrawal of a proposal to sell a 20% stake in a new commercial rights ‌entity to private investors in a deal that would have raised about $4.2 billion for football development. The proposal, which also drew scrutiny because of the involvement of a company with family links to U.S. President Donald Trump, prompted fierce criticism from European soccer's governing body UEFA and other stakeholders, who accused FIFA of poor governance and a lack of consultation. Infantino has been the subject of a torrent of criticism since he floated the idea of the new commercial rights body to FIFA's 211 member associations last week. His backdown last Friday has done little to assuage those critics, most notably UEFA, which accused him of selling the soul of the game and has said it no ‌longer has confidence in his leadership. That has cast a shadow over Infantino's re-election for a fourth term at the FIFA Congress in Morocco in March, which had looked like a foregone conclusion two months ago.

A handful of European federations have withdrawn their backing for the Swiss Italian, but perhaps more damaging are the messages ‌coming from Infantino's FIFA colleagues. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also questioned Infantino's leadership on Wednesday, saying he has lost confidence in the FIFA president after learning senior advisers had not been consulted on the abandoned proposal.

"I don't have confidence in Mr. Infantino," Carney told reporters, adding that failing to inform senior executives and fellow board members of such a significant proposal "should be fatal" for any leader. Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom sent an internal memo to staff lamenting the "sad and reproachable series of events" that led to the project being "permanently abandoned", two sources told Reuters. "Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue," the Swede added in the letter, which made no mention of Infantino by name.

His words echoed those of FIFA's Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour, who said ⁠last week that staff ​had been "deceived" over the plan which he described as the project of one person. Infantino's ⁠senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in protest at the plan last week. Arsene Wenger, FIFA's chief of Global Football Development, said he had not been involved in drafting the proposal, and called the decision to withdraw it "absolutely necessary". Former Portugal great Luis Figo, who had planned to run for the FIFA presidency in 2015 before withdrawing, described Infantino's behaviour as the "lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested" he had ever seen.

"I ⁠could write 10,000 words on the problems at FIFA. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go," Figo wrote in a Daily Mail column. UEFA Vice-President Laura McAllister said Infantino's leadership had reached a crisis point. "There's a lot of unrest about the unilateral nature of the intervention around FFE last week. So I imagine this meeting is going to bring things to a ​head," McAllister told Reuters.

SURVIVE SEVEN MONTHS UNTIL THE ELECTION Infantino has spent the past week in Morocco, which will co-host the World Cup in 2030 and whose football association has announced its continued support for him.

The meeting was widely seen as an effort to reinforce support for Infantino and ensure that ⁠he emerges from the crisis with enough backing to remain the favourite for re-election in March. An Extraordinary Congress could be called if 43 or more FIFA member associations make a formal written request for one.

Qatar, which hosted the 2022 World Cup, Kuwait, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines have declared their loyalty to Infantino. Infantino has always enjoyed a lot of support away from the traditional heartlands of the game, where impoverished ⁠football ​associations rely on FIFA's largesse to operate. But European Leagues, which represents more than 1,300 clubs across Europe, said FIFA must not be allowed to "continue taking unilaterally disruptive decisions" that affect clubs, players and fans. It also criticised the "impractically short assessment timeline" of four weeks given by FIFA to study the plan to expand the World Cup from 48 to 64 teams for the 2030 edition.

AFRICAN ADMINISTRATORS BACK INFANTINO Leading African football administrators have sent messages of support as Infantino looks to the continent's 54 members for backing. The African confederation (CAF) has yet to take a stance. The executive committee of the smallest and least wealthy regional confederation, Oceania, will meet next Wednesday ⁠to discuss their approach.

Under FIFA rules, the vote of San Marino, whose men's team are ranked 211th and last in the world rankings, counts as much as that of World Cup winners like Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Spain. One clear advantage for Infantino as he looks to extend his presidency until 2031 is that ⁠no clear candidate to stand against him in March's election has yet emerged. Jordan FA President ⁠Prince Ali bin Hussein has twice stood for the post, and he made his position clear on Tuesday when he accused FIFA of "blackmail", saying it had offered to help solve problems in exchange for endorsing Infantino.

"We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now," Prince Ali wrote on social media. A FIFA spokesperson rejected reports that Infantino had made promises over the host of the 2030 World Cup final.

"It is false and misleading to claim the FIFA president has made any promise ‌in relation to hosting the FIFA World Cup 2030 Final. ‌A decision will be made by FIFA in due course," the spokesperson said.