FIFA Stands Behind Infantino; UEFA Sticks to Its Boycott

The top leadership of the world soccer federation, led by the heavily criticized Swiss FIFA President Gianni Infantino (56), demonstrated unity following the emergency meeting in Rabat (MAR). FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström and the members of the Management Board present reaffirmed their “unreserved support” for Infantino “as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA member associations,” FIFA announced in a statement.

Conversely, Infantino also reaffirmed his full support for Secretary General Grafström. The Swede had recently expressed criticism in an internal email to FIFA staff following the failure of the plan to sell World Cup rights to investors.

FIFA Admits to a Mistake

At least FIFA acknowledged its mistakes in its statement. There is agreement that it was not the intention to “give the FIFA Council and FIFA member associations the impression that they were excluded from the process, and that the process should have been handled differently.”

Although Gianni Infantino rejected plans six days ago to sell commercial rights to FIFA competitions to private investors, fierce opposition to the FIFA president continued to mount, primarily in Europe. UEFA wants the current crisis to signal the end of Infantino’s tenure, which has now lasted ten years. FIFA is taking a combative stance, stating: “FIFA will not tolerate any attacks on its integrity.”

Open Conflict: UEFA Stands by Its Boycott

What are we to make of these FIFA statements? First of all, Gianni Infantino can breathe a sigh of relief. The meeting in Rabat went his way. As recently as Wednesday, Portugal’s former star Luis Figo had called on Infantino to resign. And members of the FIFA Council had reportedly been working to secure the necessary number of votes to force Infantino to convene an extraordinary general assembly. The fact that nothing of the sort happened can be seen as a victory for Infantino.

However, there are still fears that an all-out war will break out in the world of soccer politics. In this game of political maneuvering, it is now UEFA’s turn to make a move. In a statement to the French news agency AFP, the European governing body confirmed that it is maintaining its boycott of FIFA competitions.

“The UEFA member associations have made the conditions for their participation in FIFA competitions very clear,” writes UEFA. In addition to the withdrawal of the FIFA proposal—a demand that has already been met—UEFA is demanding “assurances that such attempts to distort soccer in this way will never happen again.” These conditions have not been met, UEFA stated, and it reaffirmed that it had “lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency.”

A Stir in England

But it is primarily the English media that keep spreading new rumors intended to further weaken Infantino. “The Sun” commented: “Infanti—No GO! Incredibly, Infantino is being supported by FIFA executives to continue in his position.” *The Times* wrote that Infantino had promised Morocco the right to host the World Cup final. *The Guardian* claims to know that FIFA once sought to interfere in European continental affairs during the founding of a European Super League (a project that was also scrapped).

FIFA immediately denied that Morocco had been promised the right to host the 2030 World Cup final (in Casablanca in front of 115,000 spectators). That would have been an affront to Spain and Europe. Spain will co-host the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco. In addition, the first three matches will take place in South America (Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay).