UEFA have called for shamed FIFA president Gianni Infantino to go after he scrapped the ‘shabby, back-room deal’ to sell stakes in the World Cup.
Pressure is mounting on the under-fire boss after his controversial plan to sell a £3.1 billion stake in football’s most coveted tournament to a group of private investors led by Josh Kushner – an extended relation of US President Donald Trump – collapsed on Friday night.
The scheme, which received wholesale opposition from football nations around the world, has seen scrutiny on Infantino’s presidency intensify.
UEFA, European football’s governing body, led the charge against Infantino’s plot and, in a lengthy statement released on Saturday morning, declared they had lost trust in his leadership.
UEFA said: ‘UEFA welcomes FIFA’s decision to withdraw its plan to sell a stake in its competitions – including the World Cup – into private hands.
‘The proposal was unanimously rejected by UEFA’s national associations and by many other federations and confederations of all sizes around the world, whose job it is to protect football.
‘UEFA thanks all the fans, leagues, clubs, players, individuals, associations and confederations that opposed the scheme, alongside the many Prime Ministers, Heads of State and commentators who have demonstrated to the FIFA President that football is not for sale.
UEFA have lost confidence in shamed FIFA president Gianni Infantino after ‘shabby, back-room deal’ to sell stakes in the World Cup.
Gianni Infantino waves goodbye to his unilateral plans for private investment in FIFA with his presidency in jeopardy
Carlos Cordeiro (left) quit as an advisor to Gianni Infantino (centre) on Friday
‘We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast-track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account,’ the UEFA statement continued.
‘It is right that, in the coming days and weeks, UEFA will work with its associations and in close cooperation with other confederations to reflect on how this happened and devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again. That review should be thorough and fundamental. No option should be off the table. The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family.
‘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. I have been this in the last 15 years of my life in UEFA. You will have to play a part every day in the life of FIFA”, before telling the assembled stakeholders, “The money of FIFA is your money. It’s not the money of the FIFA President. It’s your money. 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.
‘And with reserves standing at over $5bn, he has also failed to use associations’ money for the benefit of the game.
‘UEFA will begin work immediately with partners and stakeholders all over the world and right across the game to propose a new way of distributing resources through the existing FIFA Forward programme.
‘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 in each of the 211 countries of FIFA. 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.’
In the early hours of Saturday morning, Infantino abandoned his proposals to inject private equity into the operational and commercial aspects of FIFA tournaments.
His humiliating backtrack came thanks to the heroics of UEFA, CONCACAF, the AFC and two members of the FIFA hierarchy, who all took a stand against his divisive plans
The AFC, Asia’s governing body, were the third and final confederation to reject Gianni Infantino’s proposal. Their resistance made it clear he did not have the support to proceed, as opposing nations rose to a staggering 135 – 64 per cent of the FIFA membership.
The commendation followed CONCACAF’s rejection on Thursday and came after UEFA announced a boycott of FIFA competitions. New Zealand Football also objected to the plans, despite the OFC delaying a continent-wide response.
Infantino said: ‘The FIFA Forward Enterprise project was intended to provide a basis for further strengthening our FIFA Member Associations and our sport worldwide, especially in those countries where support is most needed.
‘And more so, as we said from the outset, to do this only if a majority of the FIFA Member Associations were in support and always subject to a consultation process with them, the FIFA Council, the Confederations and wider stakeholders.
‘Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place.
‘Our purpose has always been – and will always be – to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.
‘Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, and particularly in those countries that mostly need our support.’
The statement marked an embarrassing U-turn, less than 24 hours after he attempted to clarify his plans – blaming the media for misconstruing them.
One international football insider told Daily Mail Sport: ‘UEFA’s response is at the nuclear button end of the spectrum, which is impressive. We thought Infantino would survive the Trump refereeing intervention – but he has overreached this time.’
The proposal reached a terminal stage when Carlos Cordeiro, senior advisor to Gianni Infantino, announced his resignation from FIFA – becoming the first internal dissident.
Six hours later, FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour turned against the president – risking his job by criticising the plans and calling on nations to dethrone Infantino. Lamour admitted FIFA Forward Enterprise was the brainchild of ‘one person’ as he landed a critical blow to the FIFA president.
Infantino had hoped to create a new enterprise with significant investment from Joshua Kushner – brother of Jared, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Meanwhile, investment bank J.P. Morgan were advising on potential investors.
Democratic senator Ron Wyden, who leads an investigation into Jared Kushner, said on Friday: ‘Soccer fans around the world are rightfully outraged by this scheme from Infantino and Joshua Kushner to turn the World Cup into just another commodity for private equity to buy up.
‘It seems clear from the global backlash that this corrupt plan is unlikely to succeed, but it is just one of dozens of shady deals by Trump’s family and close associates to get rich from the presidency.’
A significant number of FIFA members raised concerns from the initial leak of the plan, questioning how such thorough ideas could be developed unilaterally without prior consultation.
Despite FIFA maintaining throughout that there would be a proper consultation period, there were major questions about how that could be achieved when potential investors were already lined up.
UEFA accused FIFA of trying to bribe members with a £30million ($40m) incentive to approve Infantino’s plan, with a September 19 deadline to respond to the offer.
Alongside UEFA’s protest, sources told the Daily Mail Sport that CONCACAF nations believe he is losing or has already lost their confidence.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham believes Infantino’s position is untenable and he is not alone.
Speaking to reporters in Sheffield on Friday, Burnham said: ‘This was an outrageous suggestion. The idea that it could even be brought forward shows that, in my view, [he] is the wrong man to lead the organisation.’
With the controversy surrounding Infantino, member nations could still trigger a vote of no confidence. The threshold to initiate the process is 46 FIFA member associations.
UEFA nations maintain that all options remain on the table as they attempt to oust Infantino, who is seeking a fourth term in next year’s elections.
Sepp Blatter, Infantino’s predecessor, took to social media to renew his attacks on his successor by writing on Friday evening: ‘FIFA is not a private equity fund. It is an association with statutes, regulations, and a fiduciary responsibility to protect the global game.
‘If you sell football’s crown jewels to private investors, you also sell part of the game – especially its soul. Money matters, but it must never become everything.’
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