FIFA has criticised what it describes as a continuing campaign to undermine the organisation and its president, Gianni Infantino, as pressure grows over his le...
FIFA has criticised what it describes as a continuing campaign to undermine the organisation and its president, Gianni Infantino, as pressure grows over his leadership from European football authorities.
The world football governing body issued the criticism after a Daily Telegraph report made allegations concerning an alleged relationship involving Infantino and a former Uefa employee. The report claimed that the woman received a severance payment from Uefa after an alleged affair with Infantino during his time as the organisation’s general secretary.
A FIFA spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph that Infantino “strongly denies” the allegations and described them as “categorically untrue”. FIFA subsequently issued its own statement rejecting what it called “unsubstantiated assertions and demonstrably false claims”.
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The organisation said speculation and insinuation should not be presented as established fact. FIFA also accused unnamed individuals of attempting to damage the organisation and its president through allegations rather than using established democratic processes.
“The FIFA president was democratically elected by FIFA’s Member Associations and continues to serve with their mandate,” the organisation said.
FIFA added that it believed there was an “ongoing effort by some to undermine FIFA and its president”, arguing that those without sufficient support among FIFA’s member associations should not attempt to remove the president through allegations or misinformation.
The dispute comes as Infantino faces growing opposition from European football authorities over his now-aborted FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal. The plan would have involved creating a new company to manage commercial and ticketing rights, with 21 percent of the company being sold to a private investment firm.
Uefa has said it has lost confidence in Infantino, while Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness called for the FIFA president to resign. The European governing body has also maintained that a boycott of FIFA events remains possible if it does not receive assurances that the FFE proposal cannot be revived.
The resistance to Infantino has mainly emerged from Europe, although other football confederations and national associations have expressed support for the FIFA president. The Mexican Football Federation, for example, broke with its regional governing body Concacaf to publicly back Infantino.
Mexico’s position echoed that of South America’s governing body, Conmebol, which said it would oppose any attempt to remove Infantino without a vote involving all 211 FIFA member associations.
Infantino also has the backing of the Confederation of African Football, whose 54 member nations have unanimously supported him, according to the information provided.
Against the backdrop of the dispute, Infantino called members of the FIFA management board to a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday. FIFA later issued a statement on behalf of Infantino and secretary general Mattias Grafstrom addressing the controversy surrounding the FFE proposal.
The statement apologised for the proposal but warned that FIFA would no longer accept what it described as attacks on its integrity, governance and established procedures.
FIFA repeated that position in its latest statement, saying that change could challenge established interests but should not be used as a reason to undermine the democratic mandate given to the FIFA president.
“FIFA welcomes legitimate scrutiny,” the organisation said, while adding that scrutiny should not involve the distortion of facts or the promotion of allegations that had not been substantiated.
The organisation also said it would respond directly to reporting it considered inaccurate or misleading. “Where reporting is inaccurate or misleading, FIFA will challenge it directly and vigorously,” it said.
The dispute has therefore developed on two fronts, with Infantino facing criticism over his leadership and the proposed commercial restructuring, while FIFA is also defending him against allegations reported in the media.
For now, Infantino remains in office with the backing of FIFA’s member associations, while opposition to his leadership remains particularly strong among sections of European football. The disagreement over the FFE proposal and the wider criticism of his presidency continue to put pressure on the organisation’s leadership.
