In the aftermath of the World Cup, despite the many issues that had plagued the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Gianni Infantino spoke in tones that suggested he felt invincible. By delivering record revenues and the "most outstanding" World Cup ever, the Fifa president felt emboldened enough to embark on a victory lap, admonishing his critics from within the stronghold of his Fifa palace, while safe in the knowledge that the structures and mechanisms designed to keep him in power were secure.
Barely a week later, the walls around Infantino are crumbling before our eyes. In over-playing his hand and rushing through proposals to sell stakes in the World Cup and Fifa tournaments to private investors, Infantino has crossed a line from where there may not return. Uefa's extraordinary decision to boycott the World Cup should Infantino get his way has been followed by two more federations, the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf, rejecting his proposals. Uefa now has enough support to comfortably defeat Infantino if a vote of Fifa's 211 member **** ociations goes ahead next month.
The walls around Gianni Infantino are crumbling (Getty)
Whether Infantino's plans, understood by The Independent to have been in the works for over a year, even survive for that long is another matter. Infantino is also under mounting pressure from within Fifa itself. The president's long-time adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, described as a heavyweight figure within the organisation, resigned in protest on Friday. "Football has been central to my life, and after more than 35 years in banking, I understand both the value of this **** et and the consequences of giving part of it away," he said in a statement. "That is why this proposal should be rejected." If even the Fifa suits have seen enough, it tells you that Infantino has gone too far.
In their own statement in the early hours of Friday morning, Fifa provided some "clarifications" around their private investment proposals, insisting that their "planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports". But it may not stop some of Infantino's steadfast allies from switching sides. Asia will host the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia and parts of the region have benefitted greatly from Infantino's support since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but the AFC's president, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, has been Infantino's most vocal critic outside of Europe. A withering statement on Friday accused Fifa of "undermining" the World Cup and called for an "urgent review" into its governance.
#infantino #fifa #around #statement
Barely a week later, the walls around Infantino are crumbling before our eyes. In over-playing his hand and rushing through proposals to sell stakes in the World Cup and Fifa tournaments to private investors, Infantino has crossed a line from where there may not return. Uefa's extraordinary decision to boycott the World Cup should Infantino get his way has been followed by two more federations, the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf, rejecting his proposals. Uefa now has enough support to comfortably defeat Infantino if a vote of Fifa's 211 member **** ociations goes ahead next month.
The walls around Gianni Infantino are crumbling (Getty)
Whether Infantino's plans, understood by The Independent to have been in the works for over a year, even survive for that long is another matter. Infantino is also under mounting pressure from within Fifa itself. The president's long-time adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, described as a heavyweight figure within the organisation, resigned in protest on Friday. "Football has been central to my life, and after more than 35 years in banking, I understand both the value of this **** et and the consequences of giving part of it away," he said in a statement. "That is why this proposal should be rejected." If even the Fifa suits have seen enough, it tells you that Infantino has gone too far.
In their own statement in the early hours of Friday morning, Fifa provided some "clarifications" around their private investment proposals, insisting that their "planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports". But it may not stop some of Infantino's steadfast allies from switching sides. Asia will host the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia and parts of the region have benefitted greatly from Infantino's support since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but the AFC's president, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, has been Infantino's most vocal critic outside of Europe. A withering statement on Friday accused Fifa of "undermining" the World Cup and called for an "urgent review" into its governance.
#infantino #fifa #around #statement
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