Fifa condemns campaign to undermine Infantino amid European tensions

Fifa has issued a formal condemnation of what it describes as a coordinated campaign to undermine the organisation and its president, Gianni Infantino. The statement follows allegations regarding Infantino’s personal conduct reported by the Daily Telegraph, which both Infantino and FIFA deny as defamatory and unsubstantiated. The political tension is largely driven by European opposition, particularly from UEFA and the Norwegian Football Federation, to Infantino’s previously proposed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, which has since been abandoned.

While UEFA maintains its threat to boycott FIFA events, Infantino retains significant backing from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Conmebol, and the Mexican Football Federation. These supporting bodies insist that any attempt to remove Infantino must be subject to a vote by all 211 FIFA member countries, rejecting any unilateral or regional efforts to oust him. The Mexican Football Federation broke ranks with its regional governing body, Concacaf, to support Infantino, a move that underscores the geographic divide within the sport’s administration.

Fifa spokespersons stated that any insinuation of inappropriate conduct or violation of statutes is defamatory. The organisation described the claims as "unsubstantiated assertions and demonstrably false claims," urging that speculation should not be presented as fact. In a statement released late on Saturday, Fifa apologised for the FFE proposal but emphasised that it would "no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process."

The FFE proposal would have created a new company to manage commercial and ticketing rights, with 21% sold off to a private investment company. Opposition to Infantino is largely concentrated within Europe. UEFA has stated that its threat to boycott FIFA events remains on the table, noting that assurances the FFE plan could not be revived have not been received. Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness called on the Swiss-Italian president to resign on Friday, citing lost confidence in his leadership.

Infantino called members of the FIFA management board to a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) unanimously backs Infantino, as does Conmebol. Fifa’s statement on Saturday asserted that the president was democratically elected by FIFA's Member Associations and continues to serve with their mandate, arguing that disagreement with change cannot justify efforts to undermine the democratic mandate of the institution he was elected to lead.