“This comes after FIFA, world football’s governing body, released a statement on Saturday that hit out at what it described as a “concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine” Infantino and the organisation. The failed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, which has heaped immense pressure on Infantino, would have seen FIFA make stakes in its commercial and event operations, including the World Cups and Club World Cups, available for private investment. Following a crisis meeting of select members of FIFA’s management in Morocco on Wednesday, Infantino, who apologised with Mattias Grafstrom, FIFA’s secretary general, for the FFE proposal, received the “full support” from his senior leadership team. The open letter from UEFA, Concacaf and AFC read: ‘This recent meeting, where a select number of members of the FIFA Management Committee — not the full Committee — were summoned abroad, rather than leadership going to Zurich to address the heart of FIFA, its staff, only reinforces these concerns and represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment. ‘It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him. There is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness. These are not the qualities football deserves in its leadership. That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve.’ Last week, UEFA doubled down on its threat of European member associations boycotting future men’s and women’s World Cups. … Sources with knowledge of the confederations’ thinking, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, admit there is an acknowledgement that at some point talks may have to be had on developing possible new competitions but the hope is they will not be necessary and Infantino will instead step down. Following the meeting in Morocco, FIFA added that ‘a review will now be conducted, and a report will be presented to the FIFA council at its next scheduled meeting’. However, UEFA, Concacaf and the AFC have made clear that they do trust FIFA to oversee this review, and have instead called for it to be carried out by an independent party. …”
NYT/ATH