Global players' union Fifpro has thrown its weight behind demands for an independent review of Fifa's governance structures, intensifying pressure on president Gianni Infantino over his handling of a scrapped plan to sell off a stake in the organisation's World Cup commercial operations.
The controversy centres on the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal, a scheme that would have seen private investors take a 20 per cent stake in a company overseeing commercial rights tied to Fifa's flagship tournaments, including both the men's and women's World Cups. The plan collapsed after three continental confederations pushed back against it, with European body Uefa leading the charge by threatening to boycott Fifa competitions unless the proposal was abandoned and guarantees given that nothing similar would be attempted in future.
Uefa lifted that boycott threat on 27 August, but the fallout has continued. The confederation stated it had lost confidence in Infantino and revealed it is now working to put forward a serious rival candidate to challenge him for the Fifa presidency at next year's Congress. Uefa also called for an independent review into how the FFE decision was reached internally.
Fifpro and its European branch echoed that demand on Monday, arguing such a review was necessary to prevent any single figure within football's governing body from making major decisions without proper oversight in the future. The union went further, calling for player, club and league representatives to be given a formal seat within Fifa Council decision-making processes going forward.
Fifa had already pledged on 5 August to examine how the FFE process unfolded, though it has not clarified who would lead that examination. Critics have noted that Fifa's own announcement appeared to undercut the review before it began, asserting that