Under-fire FIFA president Gianni Infantino is set to remain in post after winning the backing of its management board at an emergency meeting in Morocco.
In the wake of growing discontent at his controversial plans to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors – most notably from Europe’s governing body UEFA – Infantino called together senior executives to discuss the backlash.
Despite UEFA saying it had lost confidence in him – they described his Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal a “shabby, back room, opaque deal” – Infantino is confident he has enough backing from South America, Asia and Africa.
A statement from the game’s governing body said: “The FIFA secretary general and members of the FIFA management board reaffirmed their full support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA member associations.
“FIFA’s top management is fully confident that the outcomes of today’s meeting will strengthen FIFA’s governance, help restore confidence in the organisation and enable us to prepare for the major events and challenges ahead in a united and transparent manner while continuing our mission to develop the game around the world.
“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 was further acknowledged that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media.”
Critics will have been waiting to hear the outcome of the crisis talks and will now weigh up their options going forward if they want to apply further pressure.
The next FIFA presidential election is set to be held in March next year, with a deadline of 18 November for rival candidates to be proposed.
If they can’t wait that long, an emergency FIFA Council meeting could be convened, or an emergency FIFA Congress could be held where a motion of no confidence in Infantino could be tabled.
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