FIFA PRESIDENT Gianni Infantino is at the centre of a storm of his own making. Even after a crisis meeting in Morocco, where Mr Infantino received support from the FIFA management to continue as president and issued an apology for his controversial plan to sell stakes to private investors to run the World Cup, there is discontent. European football’s governing body UEFA has categorically said it has lost confidence in him, while the Norwegian Football Association has demanded Mr Infantino’s resignation. But there is still support for him from Africa’s football body CAF. Mexico, Argentina and Qatar have also backed the beleaguered Mr Infantino’s continuation as FIFA chief as he seeks re-election for a fourth and final term next year. Two weeks ago, it seemed he would be re-elected unopposed. But his proposal to sell a $4.2bn stake in a new $20bn commercial subsidiary — the FIFA Forward Enterprise — that would run major football events, and his push to have it approved by the 211 FIFA member associations, led to an unprecedented backlash. That proposal came with the caveat of increased funding, of up to $40m, for member associations — an amount large enough to sway votes in his favour, especially those of the smaller members — but it was shelved after UEFA’s rallying call saw the Asian Football Confederation as well as the North and Central American body CONCACAF join the opposition.

It has been a humiliating climb-down for Mr Infantino, whose senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in protest, while FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour stated that the staff felt deceived by the plan. But he is clinging on to power even as UEFA has threatened to boycott FIFA events. When the US launched a corruption investigation into FIFA in 2015, it vowed it would reform the football body. But Mr Infantino’s brazen use of his position to push for what was essentially the sale of the World Cup shows that FIFA is far from reformed.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2026