On Wednesday, Gianni Infantino expressed his regret over the mistakes related to his unsuccessful initiative to sell shares of the World Cup to private investors. Despite this, he will continue serving as FIFA president after senior officials at a crisis meeting in Morocco reaffirmed their unwavering support for his leadership.
Event Context
Infantino proposed the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), aiming to shift the commercial rights of FIFA’s premier events—like the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup—into a distinct commercial entity. FIFA would then sell a minority stake in this entity to external investors, with reports estimating its value at approximately $20 billion.
This proposal faced significant backlash from the global football community. UEFA led the opposition, with all 55 member associations reportedly threatening to boycott the World Cup if the plan proceeded, describing it as a ‘shabby, back-room, opaque deal.’ Concerns were also raised by CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation, intensifying the pressure on FIFA.
Amid rising criticism, Infantino decided to withdraw the proposal, but calls for his resignation as FIFA president quickly gained traction.
In response to the controversy, Infantino held a meeting with FIFA’s management board at the organization’s Africa office in Rabat, Morocco. Notably, much of the disapproval had come from within FIFA itself, including secretary general Mattias Grafström, who attended the meeting.
In an internal memo to FIFA staff, Grafström had referred to the situation as ‘a sad and reproachable series of events.’
Following the four-hour meeting in Rabat, FIFA aimed to present a unified stance. A statement released after the meeting confirmed that Grafström and the board supported Infantino’s leadership despite the surrounding controversy. The statement acknowledged that ‘mistakes were made’ and noted that the ‘process should have been handled differently.’
FIFA announced that a letter had been sent to the FIFA Council and member associations apologizing for the mistakes and pledging to prevent future occurrences.
Grafström’s public endorsement of Infantino was particularly noteworthy, especially after his critical internal memo regarding the abandoned plans. The statement also highlighted Infantino’s reaffirmation of confidence in Grafström.
FIFA made it clear that the FFE proposal is ‘now off the table.’
The statement concluded that while ‘lessons will be learned,’ FIFA remains committed to improving its processes moving forward. However, FIFA also adopted a firm stance, declaring it ‘will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance, and due process,’ and will take necessary actions to protect its reputation.
Earlier reports on Wednesday suggested Infantino had allegedly promised Morocco the opportunity to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup final in return for political support amid the controversy. FIFA dismissed these claims as ‘false and misleading,’ asserting that the decision on the final venue for the tournament—jointly hosted by Morocco, Spain, and Portugal—would be made ‘in due course.’
