PARIS – Pressure on Fifa president Gianni Infantino intensified on Tuesday, with opposition emerging from within world football’s governing body as well as from external critics over his since-abandoned proposal to open the World Cup to private investment.
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, appointed in 2019 by Infantino as Fifa’s chief of global football development, said in a statement on Tuesday that “the decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question”.
His remarks followed hot on the heels of an extraordinary internal email to Fifa staff, seen by AFP, in which secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom appeared to distance himself from Infantino on the issue.
Previously seen as close to Infantino, Grafstrom describes the fiasco surrounding the plan as “a sad and reproachable series of events”.
He adds: “Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue.”
Fifa had floated the plan last Tuesday, saying it could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for a new commercial subsidiary, called the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), which it proposed would run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.
By Saturday it was dead in the water as Infantino announced the humiliating climbdown after widespread condemnation, as UEFA wielded the nuclear option of boycotting all Fifa competitions, including the World Cup.
Far from calming the waters or shoring up his presidency, Infantino has been swamped with criticism of his style of leadership and a previously smooth path to being re-elected unopposed to a fourth and final term next March in Rabat now looks a very rocky one indeed.
‘Take immediate steps’
That is a problem down the road. For now, he has others to confront.
Even though he had withdrawn the scheme, UEFA issued a letter through their lawyers in the US threatening legal action over what they had scathingly described as a “shabby, backroom, opaque deal”.
Both Grafstrom and Wenger as well as chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, who had slammed the plan on Friday, are mentioned in the letter as being knowledgeable about the FFE and instructed to keep all “relevant materials”.
“Dear Mr Infantino. UEFA hereby gives formal notice that it is actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints (together, the ‘Proceedings’) arising out of and in connection with the FFE plan proposed by Fifa and all related matters as further described below,” their lawyer Andrew Levander said in the letter sent last Friday and seen by AFP.
“You and Fifa are required to take immediate steps to identify, locate, and preserve all documents and electronically stored information described in this Notice that are in your or Fifa’s possession, custody, or control.
“These obligations arise independently of any internal retention policy you or your organization maintain and supersede any routine document destruction or deletion policies that would otherwise apply.”
Several of UEFA’s member associations — Wales, Finland, Sweden and Serbia — have withdrawn their letters of support for Infantino and the English FA is strongly rumoured to be on the verge of also joining them.
The scant comfort for Infantino came from a handful of supporters, including 2030 World Cup co-hosts Morocco, as well as Kuwait, Qatar, where he has a house, and Lebanon, which granted him honorary citizenship in February.
However, it is the damning remarks by both Wenger and Grafstrom — who shadowed Infantino throughout the World Cup — that will twist the knife further.
Their criticism only adds to the impression that Infantino has lost the confidence of even his closest Fifa collaborators.
One of the most devastating blows to Infantino’s plan was the resignation on Friday of his special adviser Carlos Cordeiro, who is also close to US President Donald Trump.
Despite what UEFA’s lawyer wrote regarding keeping material pertinent to FFE, Wenger claims to have only learned about it through the media.
“I was not involved in this strategic plan,” the 76-year-old Frenchman said.
Grafstrom, for his part, tried to cheer up the staff by congratulating them on their work while admitting it had been “an extraordinary and challenging week”.
For Infantino, the challenge threatens to grow, and his stated purpose when he ditched the plan, to unite football, seems unlikely to be realised while he remains president.