FIFA president Gianni Infantino will hold an emergency meeting with senior officials in Morocco on Wednesday as he attempts to contain a growing crisis that is threatening his position.
The meeting in Rabat follows his decision to abandon a controversial plan to create a commercial company responsible for managing the governing body’s commercial and operational rights. The proposal, known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), included plans to sell a 20% stake in the new company to private-sector investors.
According to Sky Sports, Infantino faced widespread opposition from continental and national football associations, as well as threats of boycotts of FIFA competitions, before withdrawing the plan last week.
Pressure on the Swiss president increased further on Tuesday, when several prominent figures from inside and outside FIFA made public statements criticising the situation.
Arsene Wenger said he had not been involved in preparing the proposal and described its withdrawal as “absolutely necessary and beyond debate”. He also said he believed FIFA had to remain an independent organisation operating according to the principles of transparency and integrity.
FIFA secretary general Matthias Grafstrom separately wrote to the organisation’s staff, describing the events of recent days as “an unfortunate and unacceptable series of events”.
Grafstrom thanked employees who had found themselves at the centre of a political crisis in which they had played no part, and said FIFA would continue carrying out its responsibilities despite the disruption.
His message came days after the resignation of Infantino’s senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro, who described FIFA Forward Enterprise as “a bad deal for football”.
The dispute has also led to direct accusations from Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, president of the Jordan Football Association. He accused FIFA of “blackmail”, claiming the world governing body had linked assistance for Jordan on several issues to public support for Infantino’s re-election campaign.
Those issues allegedly included outstanding payments and problems faced by Jordanian supporters during the World Cup.
Prince Ali said the Jordan Football Association was still waiting for the prize money owed for finishing runners-up at the 2025 Arab Cup. He also referred to tax burdens incurred by the association because the national team’s delegation was based in the United States, as well as difficulties experienced by fans trying to obtain travel visas.
He said: “The real problem lies in the leadership,” and confirmed that Jordan “will not give its support to Infantino”.
UEFA has also escalated its opposition to the FIFA president. European football’s governing body is considering legal action over FIFA Forward Enterprise and has called for all documents and correspondence connected with the project to be preserved ahead of a possible investigation.
UEFA is understood to have lost confidence in Infantino after the controversy. Several European associations, including England and Wales, have withdrawn their formal backing for his re-election, with more expected to take a similar position.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has added to the pressure by calling for a woman to become the organisation’s next leader. He has publicly backed Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Federation, to replace Infantino.
Blatter said Klaveness was one of the few figures in world football who had maintained an independent position. He added that the time had come for a woman to lead FIFA.
Norway was among a small number of associations that had not declared support for Infantino’s re-election at the forthcoming election in March 2027.
Asia is expected to be the decisive region in any contest for the FIFA presidency. Europe and associations from North, Central America and the Caribbean are expected to support any move aimed at ending Infantino’s tenure, while he continues to receive backing from a number of associations in Africa, South America and Oceania.
