Arsene Wenger, FIFA's chief of global football development, has spoken out for the first time on the controversy engulfing football's governing body, calling Gianni Infantino's decision to scrap a plan to sell stakes in a World Cup entity to private investors both necessary and unquestionable.
The former Arsenal manager issued a statement on Tuesday, roughly a week after news broke of Infantino's proposal to launch FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and sell a 20 per cent stake to private equity firms. The scheme met fierce resistance, with three continental confederations rejecting it outright. UEFA went further still, warning it could boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions unless the plan was scrapped.
In his statement, Wenger sought to clarify his own position within the organization, stressing that he had no part in devising the plan. "The recent events at FIFA deserve some clarity from my side," he said. "At FIFA, I am the Chief of Global Football Development. Together with my team, I oversee the data analysis of the game, the FIFA online training centre, the development of youth education through 60 academies across 60 countries where they are most needed, and youth competitions around the world. In addition, I am a technical adviser to IFAB."
He added: "I was not involved in this strategic plan and first became aware of the project through media reports. The decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question, because I firmly believe in an independent FIFA that serves our game with commitment, transparency, and integrity."
Crucially, Wenger did not signal any intention to step down from his FIFA role, distinguishing himself from senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro, who resigned in the wake of the fallout. Even so, his comments underline the extent of internal unease at FIFA's Zurich headquarters and reflect the pressure Infantino now faces from multiple directions.
The scrapped FFE plan had envisioned FIFA creating a new commercial entity encompassing World Cup rights, with a fifth of it sold off to outside investors. The proposal alarmed several stakeholders, not least because it was also understood to extend to the Club World Cup, an area where FIFA has been trying to build cooperative arrangements with major European clubs.
The European Football Clubs (EFC) group is understood to have raised concerns directly with FIFA, worried that the FFE structure would undermine a planned joint venture with FIFA over Club World Cup commercial rights. Notably, FIFA currently has no agreement with the EFC covering the staging of the 2029 edition of the tournament, leaving that relationship in a delicate state.
Meanwhile, support for Infantino among European football bodies has visibly eroded. The English Football Association is reportedly preparing to formally notify FIFA of a shift in its stance, while the Football Association of Wales has already confirmed publicly that it is withdrawing its backing. These moves follow UEFA's statement on Saturday, in which the European governing body welcomed the abandonment of the FFE plan but stated bluntly that it had "lost confidence" in Infantino's leadership.
The controversy was further inflamed by remarks from FIFA's chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, who told the Associated Press last Friday that staff within the organization felt they had been "deceived" by their own president over the handling of the plan.
With major confederations, leading clubs, and now senior figures within FIFA's own ranks expressing discontent, Infantino faces mounting scrutiny over how the initiative was conceived and pursued in the first place. Wenger's intervention, while measured in tone compared to Lamour's, adds another voice to the chorus demanding greater transparency from football's top governing body going forward.
Based on reporting from Standard Sport and The Independent.