UEFA, Concacaf Call for Full Review of Infantino
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- UEFA released a statement saying Infantino has "not only lost Uefa's confidence but also that of many other members of the football family," quoting his own 2016 campaign pledge that "the money of Fifa is your money" and accusing him of breaking that promise.
- Concacaf, which oversaw this summer's World Cup, stopped short of naming Infantino but demanded a "full review of this leadership," calling the investment plan "a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first" and warning that "accountability cannot be optional."
- The scrapped Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal would have created a commercial subsidiary running FIFA's World Cups and invited third parties to buy minority, non-controlling stakes, per a 25-page document drawn up by JP Morgan.
- UEFA had voted Thursday to boycott all FIFA-organized World Cups if the plan went ahead, and the AFC later expressed "solidarity" with UEFA and Concacaf, meaning three of FIFA's six confederations turned against the proposal in under a week.
- FIFA COO Kevin Lamour said FIFA's own administration had been "deceived" about the project, while Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino's senior adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned, calling the deal "a bad deal for football" that would "mortgage football's future."
- The Qatar Football Association became the first body to publicly back Infantino despite welcoming the U-turn, with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani saying the Qatar FA "fully supports president Infantino's efforts."
- Infantino is seeking re-election for a fourth term at the FIFA Congress in March, and the source notes the fallout from the FFE plan has left him under "immense pressure" heading into that vote.
Why it matters: Three of FIFA's six confederations — UEFA, Concacaf, and the AFC — publicly opposed Infantino within days, a bloc whose member associations control the majority of FIFA Congress votes that will decide his fourth-term bid in March; with FIFA's own COO admitting staff were "deceived" and a senior adviser resigning, the episode shifts the March re-election from a coronation into a contest.
