Former Portugal and Real Madrid star Luis Figo has called on Gianni Infantino to step down as Fifa president, adding his voice to the mounting criticism engulfing the governing body's leader.
The pressure on Infantino intensified after he was compelled to shelve a controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other Fifa competitions to private investors. The proposal collapsed last week following widespread condemnation, with Uefa warning it would boycott Fifa events should the scheme go ahead.
The controversy escalated further when Prince Ali bin Hussein, president of the Jordan Football Association, accused Infantino of "blackmail" tactics. Facing intense scrutiny, Infantino has since summoned senior football officials to a crisis meeting in Morocco on Wednesday, where he is expected to defend his position.
Figo, who once ran against Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency in 2015 before withdrawing ahead of the vote, delivered a scathing assessment of Infantino's conduct in a column written for the Daily Mail. The Portuguese icon, who currently serves as an adviser to Uefa, did not hold back in his criticism.
"I could write 10,000 words on the problems at Fifa. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go," Figo wrote. He went on to describe the recent revelations surrounding Infantino's leadership as among the worst he has witnessed in football. "I have loved football all my life. I was a professional player for 20 years. And believe me, I have met some rogues in my time in the game. But what I have seen exposed in the last 10 days is the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behaviour I have ever witnessed," he said.
Figo argued that Infantino's attempt to push through the investment scheme was driven by personal gain rather than the interests of the sport. "The man who would do that – the man who would try to force through such major changes just to enrich himself and his friends – is a relic of the game's past and should have no part in its future," he added.
Beyond the stakes-selling controversy, Figo pointed to other incidents he characterized as part of a broader pattern of mismanagement, including the handling of the Folarin Balogun situation at the World Cup and the decision to extend the half-time interval of the World Cup final to accommodate a musical performance.
"Infantino has debased the office of Fifa president that he promised to elevate," Figo continued. "He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve."
The former Ballon d'Or winner suggested that Infantino has lost crucial backing within football's ecosystem. "He has lost the support of his senior staff, his closest advisers, the vast majority of people who devote their lives to this sport and even, it would seem, the Fifa Peace Prize winner [Donald Trump]," Figo said, before delivering his final verdict: "It is too late to save his dignity but it is not too late to save football. He should go. Now."
The criticism has not been confined to outside voices. Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafstrom reportedly voiced objections to the stakes-selling plan in an internal memo, while Arsene Wenger, now Fifa's chief of global football development, described the decision to abandon the proposal as "absolutely necessary and beyond question."
Meanwhile, national federations have begun distancing themselves from Infantino. The Football Association of Wales has already withdrawn its support for his re-election bid next year, and England's Football Association is reportedly poised to follow suit.
All eyes now turn to Wednesday's gathering in Morocco, where Infantino will attempt to shore up support and steady his increasingly precarious position at the helm of world football's governing body.
Based on reporting from Independent (football).