The spotlight is firmly on FIFA president Gianni Infantino as backlash mounts from both within the organization and outside critics regarding his now-axed idea to invite private investors into the World Cup fold.
Adding his voice to the swelling criticism, former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who was tapped by Infantino in 2019 to spearhead FIFA’s global football development, made it clear on Tuesday that pulling the plug on the initiative was “absolutely necessary and beyond question.”
Wenger’s statement came swiftly after an internal email surfaced through the AFP news agency, where FIFA secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom appeared to put space between himself and Infantino over the contentious proposal.
Despite his previous close ties with Infantino, Grafstrom described the controversy surrounding the plan as “a sad and reproachable series of events,” highlighting a rift within FIFA’s higher echelons.
The concept was unveiled by FIFA just last Tuesday, ambitiously suggesting that private investments could generate upwards of US$4.2 billion based on a colossal valuation of US$20 billion for the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE). This new commercial entity was envisaged to oversee lucrative rights for marquee events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.
By Saturday, it was dead in the water, as Infantino announced he was abandoning the plan after widespread condemnation, with European governing body UEFA having threatened to boycott all FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
Far from calming the waters or shoring up his presidency, Infantino has been swamped with criticism of his leadership style; the previously smooth path to being re-elected unopposed for a fourth and final term next March now looks rocky.
‘Take immediate steps’
However, re-election is a problem down the road. For now, Infantion has others to confront.
Even though he had withdrawn the scheme, UEFA issued a letter through their lawyers in the US threatening legal action over what they had scathingly described as a “shabby, backroom, opaque deal”.
“You and FIFA are required to take immediate steps to identify, locate, and preserve all documents and electronically stored information described in this Notice that are in your or FIFA’s possession, custody, or control,” its lawyer Andrew Levander said in the letter sent last Friday and seen by AFP.
Several of UEFA’s member associations — Wales, Finland, Sweden and Serbia — have withdrawn their letters of support for Infantino and the English FA is strongly rumoured to be on the verge of joining them.
The scant comfort for Infantino came from a handful of supporters, including 2030 World Cup co-hosts Morocco, along with Kuwait, Qatar, where he has a house, and Lebanon, which granted him honorary citizenship in February.
The criticism only adds to the impression that Infantino has lost the confidence of even his closest FIFA collaborators.
A new challenger approaches?
Among Infantino’s detractors, the hunt for a replacement has reportedly already begun.
The question now is whether his opposition can rally round one candidate with the deadline for nominations arriving on 18 November.
The name most frequently mentioned as a potential challenger or successor is Victor Montagliani, president of CONCACAF, which governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
An emboldened opposition could also move sooner than that and call for an emergency meeting of the FIFA Council.
That would require the backing of 19 of the 37 members of the FIFA Council, triggering a meeting that must be held within two weeks.
In theory, the opposition has the numbers to force such a meeting, as the three confederations who were scathing of Infantino’s leadership control 21 seats on the council.
European football’s governing body UEFA has nine members, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has seven, while CONCACAF boasts five.
There is another more radical option, but one that is conceivable given the backlash: a no-confidence vote in Infantino.
An extraordinary FIFA congress can be held if 20 per cent of the 211 member associations formally request it in writing.
It would take the support of just 43 member associations to spark such a move, a threshold that could easily be assembled from UEFA (55 members), CONCACAF (35) and AFC (46).
Should it come down to a leadership contest, Montagliani appears the obvious challenger as a non-European candidate. Europe has held the post since Sepp Blatter was elected in 1998.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and Norway’s football chief Lise Klaveness — who would be the first woman elected as president — have both ruled themselves out in the past.