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Uefa says boycott may still go ahead as FA withdraws Infantino support
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European teams could still boycott competitions including the World Cup as Uefa says Fifa's defence of its president Gianni Infantino "changes nothing".The English FA has sent a letter withdrawing its support for Infantino in reaction to the plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors.European governing body Uefa said in a statement its conditions had not been met, despite Infantino's plan being aborted."First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly," Uefa's statement said. "Assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again."These conditions have not been met."Uefa has already said it has lost confidence in Infantino, calling the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal a "shabby, back room, opaque deal".Infantino had offered all associations $40m (£30m) if they backed a proposal for private investment in its tournaments, including the men's and women's World Cups, through the FFE subsidiary.World governing body Fifa said during Wednesday's meeting "mistakes" regarding FFE were "acknowledged", saying it was "not the intention" for the Fifa Council and members association to "feel excluded from the process and that the process should have been handled differently".Uefa's statement in response added: "Uefa made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino's presidency. That position holds."Yesterday's announcement that some people employed by the Fifa president (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing."Fifa has been approached for comment.Infantino arrived at Fifa's offices in Rabat, Morocco on Wednesday in now-familiar fashion, chauffeured to the building in a motorcade, sitting in the back of a Mercedes with blacked out windows.Some questioned whether he would still be the Fifa president when he left.Yet if anything, on the surface at least, Infantino appears emboldened.This was not the 56-year-old being ordered to a hearing to explain his actions. It was Infantino who summoned members of the Fifa management board to sit around the table with him, to talk through the events of the last week.Secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, Infantino's right-hand man, had been critical in an internal memo to staff, calling the FFE proposals "a sad and reproachable series of events".After the meeting finished it appeared to be water under the bridge, with Infantino and Grafstrom pictured sat next to each other and smiling at a Women's Africa Cup of Nations match between Malawi and Zambia. If there were clear-the-air talks, they appear to have worked. Other members of the Fifa management board to attend the meeting included finance chief Thomas Peyer, legal chief Emilio Garcia Silvero, chief of staff Daniel O'Toole, chief of member associations Elkhan Mammadov and media relations director Bryan Swanson.BBC Sport has been told that Fifa's chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, was not invited.Lamour strongly criticised Infantino's FFE plan, saying it was "the project of one person", and "the time has now come for football's political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions". He added: "I lose my job, then so be it. At least I'll sleep well tonight."Lamour has declined to comment to the BBC. Fifa has been approached for comment.What concerns Uefa is that this meeting was a gathering of employees who are themselves part of the regime. It is unknown if Infantino was forced to answer difficult questions about his plan. Questions such as: who was involved? Whether there was a competitive tender process? And if he stood to benefit personally? While Fifa said "mistakes made were acknowledged" and an "apology was made", there was no direct accountability for the controversy.Uefa still wants answers to those key questions and will not be content until it gets them - or Infantino leaves.Uefa is in something of a pickle as it
Wales is the first football federation to formally withdraw support for Gianni Infantino’s re-election bid after a botched World Cup investment plan was scrapped.Wales said it will withdraw support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s re-election bid for a new term from 2027-2031, after his failed plan to sell a stake in the World Cup’s commercial rights.FIFA’s ambitious plan to unlock up to $4.2bn from private investors by selling a roughly 20 percent stake in a new entity overseeing competitions, including the World Cup, ended in retreat on Friday after fierce resistance from stakeholders.Recommended Stories list of 2 itemslist 1 of 2Cricket: India pace star Bumrah ruled out of tour of Sri Lankalist 2 of 2Golf: Thorbjornsen wins first PGA Tour title at Rocket Classicend of listWith the plan abandoned, attention has turned to the potential repercussions for Infantino, whose bid for another term as FIFA president could face increased scrutiny following the failed initiative.Failure of good governanceWales became the first national federation to formally withdraw its support for Infantino.“The Football Association of Wales hereby confirms its withdrawal of support for the candidature of Mr. Gianni Infantino, for re-election as FIFA President for the 2027–2031 term,” the Welsh FA said in a statement on Monday.“The recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement have led us to a position where Mr. Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football.“Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept.”FIFA are yet to publicly comment on the Wales statement.Infantino is under unprecedented fire after regional confederations for Europe (UEFA) and North and Central America (CONCACAF) said on Saturday they had lost confidence in his leadership.The European governing body, which led the backlash to Infantino’s plans and welcomed the decision to scrap it, did not confirm media reports that it was preparing to take legal action against FIFA over the issue.UEFA said it had sent a document preservation order, which stops the destruction of emails, files or data when an investigation is expected.Infantino had said in April he intended to seek re-election for a fourth term as FIFA chief. Since taking over from Sepp Blatter in 2016, the Swiss has been re-elected unopposed twice and appeared in control of the body.While his re-election for the 2027-31 term had appeared a formality, experts told Reuters that the backlash against the failed proposal exposed dissatisfaction among FIFA members and could complicate his path ahead of March’s Congress in Morocco.
Gianni Infantino's leadership of Fifa has been publicly questioned by football's governing bodies in Europe, North and Central America and the Caribbean.Uefa and Concacaf both released statements on Saturday criticising the leadership at the world governing body after Infantino said Fifa would no longer proceed with the proposal to sell stakes in their competitions to private investors.Uefa, which governs European football, welcomed the decision to withdraw the plan, describing it as a "victory for the whole game". The body accused of Infantino of failing to deliver on promises, quoting a speech he gave when campaigning to become Fifa president in 2016.Concacaf, which oversees football in North, Central America and the Caribbean, followed Uefa in criticising the plans, saying "unity had prevailed" and that the proposals were a "symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first". "This recent unilateral and egregious act of poor governance and leadership follows a pattern of missteps and similar behaviour. A full review of this leadership must now take place," a Concacaf statement read. Unlike Uefa, Concacaf did not mention Infantino by name. The fallout from the plans means Infantino is now under immense pressure as he seeks re-election for a fourth term as president at the Fifa Congress in March.Uefa were the first major governing body to react to Infantino's decision to drop the investment plans, saying the Swiss had failed to deliver on his promises. "The current Fifa leadership has not only lost Uefa's confidence but also that of many other members of the football family," Uefa's statement read."When Gianni Infantino asked for the trust and the votes of Fifa's member associations to elect him as their president in 2016, he said, 'Of course we have to be transparent'."He told the assembled stakeholders, 'The money of Fifa is your money. It's not the money of the Fifa president. You are the national associations and the money of Fifa has to serve for the development of football and not for anything else'."On both these promises, he has failed to deliver. The shabby, back room, opaque deal he hatched and tried to force through was anything but transparent."Later on Saturday, Concacaf joined Uefa in criticising Fifa leadership and said "accountability cannot be optional". "When people entrusted with protecting the game conclude they can no longer do so from within, the football family is entitled to ask how such a proposal was allowed to proceed and who bears responsibility for it," a Concacaf statement read.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham - the first leader of a major country to call on Infantino to resign - said Fifa made "the right decision" to back down.Uefa had been highly critical of the proposals since they were first reported in the media on Tuesday.In a powerful, lengthy statement released several hours after Fifa announced it had scrapped the plans, Uefa said:it "cannot keep going on" with "secret schemes of fast-track timescales cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game".those responsible for the plan should be identified and held to account.it would devise a plan "with its associations and in close co-operation with other confederations" to make sure this "cannot occur again".it would work with partners to "propose a new way of distributing resources through the existing Fifa Forward programme".It also accused Infantino of "failing to use associations' money for the benefit of the game"."We must start to use some of that money that is sat idle in Fifa's bank account to deliver the kick-start that the grassroots and the wider game need," the statement added."But we don't need to sell off the family silver to pay for it."This is a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story. "The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in Fifa has only just begun."Fifa has yet to respond to Uefa's statement.Concacaf, which hosted this year's World Cup, was critical
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