Infantino keeps FIFA presidency after crisis meeting
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- FIFA's management board reaffirmed its 'full support' for Infantino at a seven-hour crisis meeting in Morocco on August 5, after Infantino and secretary general Mattias Grafström sent a letter to national associations apologizing for 'errors' in the proposed 'FIFA Forward Enterprise' (FFE) investment plan.
- The FFE plan, which would have raised up to $4.2bn from external investors by selling minority stakes in a new company valued at ~$20bn holding commercial rights to competitions including the World Cup, was withdrawn on August 1 after just days of fierce opposition — though associations had been given a September mid-month deadline and a £30.1m incentive to back it.
- UEFA voted on July 30 for its 55 member associations to boycott World Cup tournaments if the plan went ahead, and subsequently declared it had 'lost confidence in the current FIFA leadership,' with Wales becoming the first FA to formally withdraw support for Infantino's re-election and England set to follow.
- Prominent figures publicly demanded Infantino's resignation: Portugal great Luis Figo called his behavior 'the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested I have ever witnessed,' Canada's PM Mark Carney — whose country co-hosted this summer's World Cup — said the episode should be 'fatal' for his position, and Infantino's own adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned labelling the plan a 'bad deal' and 'irresponsible.'
- FIFA struck a defiant public tone, declaring it would 'no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation,' while also promising an internal review to be reported at the next FIFA Council meeting.
- Infantino's calculation is that he was elected by all 211 member associations and can only be removed by them, and he believes he retains enough backing across South America, Africa and parts of Asia to win re-election; key upcoming dates are an emergency Council/Congress risk window and November 18, the deadline to declare as a candidate.
- Potential successors floated by Sky Sports News include PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi (not interested, per reporting), AFC's Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, CONCACAF's Victor Montagliani, and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin — but none has publicly declared interest in challenging Infantino.
Why it matters: The board's formal backing sidesteps an immediate resignation crisis, but does not resolve it: UEFA's 55 votes still represent a veto-grade bloc, Wales and England have already withdrawn support for his re-election, and a sitting head of state (Canada's PM) plus a Ballon d'Or winner publicly want him gone. With the November 18 candidacy deadline approaching and UEFA's tournament boycott still on the table, Infantino's path to surviving the March 2026 election now depends on locking down Africa, South America and parts of Asia before those federations can be peeled away.
