Gianni Infantino just summoned Fifa’s senior leaders to a meeting in Rabat, Morocco on Wednesday, a move coming after days of intense backlash against his plan to sell off Fifa’s commercial and event operations. The Fifa president, who has been in Morocco for the past week, is clearly trying to put out fires as criticism of his Fifa Forward Enterprise has hit a fever pitch.
The Internal Revolt Hits Hard
This isn’t just some outside noise, folks. Key figures within Fifa are making their opposition crystal clear. Arsene Wenger, Fifa’s chief of global football development, didn’t pull any punches, stating publicly that scrapping this plan was “absolutely necessary and beyond question.” Wenger, in his role since 2019, said he wasn’t involved in creating this “strategic plan” and only learned about it from media reports. He issued a statement through Fifa demanding “transparency and integrity” from the body. He’s even one of 18 Fifa officials named in a legal threat from UEFA, so this whole thing is getting messy. Secretary general Mattias Grafstrom called the past week “a sad and reproachable series of events” in an internal email to Fifa staff. He found the situation “difficult to comprehend and accept.” These are heavy hitters sounding the alarm from *inside* the house.
“Blackmail” Allegations and Withheld Funds
But wait, it gets even wilder. Prince Ali, president of the Jordanian Football Association, straight up accused Fifa of creating a situation that “amounts to blackmail.” He claims Fifa is withholding prize money Jordan earned as Arab Cup runners-up last December. Prince Ali, who has twice run for the Fifa presidency, alleges Fifa tried to use this unpaid cash to gain support for Infantino’s re-election. He wrote on X that “The problem really is with leadership” and that Fifa verbally communicated during the World Cup that endorsing Infantino “would go a long way to helping our FA out.” Jordan refused to give in, upholding their ethical values. Prince Ali also said Jordanian supporters with tickets were denied US visas for their debut World Cup appearance this summer. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, even resigned over the scandal. He called the proposal “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future.” He’s the *only* official to step down, which is telling.
So, Infantino is locked in Rabat, trying to find a way out. He’s got his own team saying his plan is necessary to scrap, his secretary general calling events “sad,” and a rival accusing Fifa of “blackmail” and denying visas. Infantino, elected in 2016, previously claimed over 200 letters of support from 211 member associations for his re-election; Jordan was not among them. With such intense opposition, all eyes are on this Wednesday’s executive meeting. Will Infantino find a solution, or will the heat just keep rising on this controversy? This one’s far from over.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by BBC Sport.
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