FIFA Backs Infantino After World Cup Sell-Off 'Mistakes'
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- FIFA's management board reaffirmed "full support" for Gianni Infantino after seven-hour crisis talks in Morocco on August 5, with Infantino and Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom apologizing for "errors" in the botched World Cup stake-sale proposals
- The leaked plans offered national associations a mid-September deadline and a £30.1m incentive to back the stake sale without prior consultation; the proposals were withdrawn on Saturday after days of global criticism
- UEFA announced it had "lost confidence in the current FIFA leadership" while the FA called for a "full and robust review of FIFA's leadership," and FIFA chief of global football development Arsene Wenger publicly distanced himself
- Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino's personal senior advisor, resigned on Friday calling the proposals a "bad deal" and "irresponsible," while the head of the Jordan FA accused Infantino of "blackmail"
- Canada PM Mark Carney said the incident should be "fatal" for Infantino's position — weeks after his country had welcomed Infantino as a World Cup co-host — and Luis Figo called the behavior "the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested" he had witnessed
- FIFA's second statement threatened it would "no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity" and promised a review whose findings would be presented at the next FIFA Council
Why it matters: Despite an unusually broad rebellion spanning FIFA's own chief of global football development, an advisor's resignation, UEFA's loss of confidence, and a World Cup co-host prime minister calling for his removal, Infantino retained full board backing — meaning the immediate threat to his presidency has passed, but FIFA's simultaneous threat to take unspecified "measures" against its critics signals the governance fight is escalating rather than resolved.
