FIFA has thrown its full support behind President Gianni Infantino while apologizing for the controversy surrounding the now-abandoned plan to open the World Cup to private investment.
The backing came on Wednesday after a crisis meeting in Rabat, Morocco, where FIFA’s senior leadership acknowledged mistakes in the handling of the proposal but reaffirmed confidence in Infantino despite mounting calls for his resignation.
The FIFA president has come under intense pressure since abandoning the proposal last Saturday following widespread opposition from football stakeholders. In a statement issued after the meeting, FIFA said its leadership had recognized shortcomings in the process.
It stated: “The meeting also addressed the FIFA Forward Enterprise, FFE, proposal, where mistakes made were acknowledged.
“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.
“In a separate letter to the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations, an apology was made for these errors together with a commitment to ensure they do not happen again.” Despite the controversy, FIFA’s leadership reaffirmed its confidence in Infantino.
The statement added that the FIFA Secretary General and members of the FIFA Management Board present at the meeting “reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations”.
The shelved proposal would have created FIFA Forward Enterprise, a new commercial subsidiary that would oversee competitions including the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
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FIFA had argued that the project could generate up to $4.2 billion through the sale of a minority stake based on a valuation of $20 billion.
Under the proposal, each of FIFA’s 211 member associations would have received a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027, while funding allocations for the 2027-2030 cycle would have increased from $8 million to $20 million.
Instead, the proposal triggered fierce opposition across world football. UEFA described the initiative as a “shabby, back room, opaque deal” and warned that it had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership.
The continental body also raised the possibility of boycotting the World Cup before Infantino withdrew the proposal.
North and Central American football governing body CONCACAF also criticized the FIFA president’s leadership, calling for “a comprehensive reckoning with this presidency” while condemning what it described as “poor governance and leadership”.
FIFA confirmed that the proposal has now been permanently abandoned. It stated: “As previously communicated, the FFE proposal, which would have been subject to the approval of the FIFA Member Associations and the FIFA Council, is now off the table.”
The governing body also announced that a review of the events surrounding the proposal would be carried out, with a report to be presented at the next meeting of the FIFA Council.
Following the meeting, Infantino attended the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations match between Zambia and Malawi in Rabat alongside Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa.
Lekjaa remains one of the few football leaders to have publicly backed Infantino throughout the controversy, describing the decision to withdraw the proposal as a “wise” move made in the interest of “unity and cohesion”.
Infantino’s fourth-term ambitions have nevertheless come under renewed scrutiny after what has become the biggest leadership crisis of his presidency.
The Eagle
