FIFA's president Gianni Infantino has retained the backing of the organization's senior management following a tense crisis meeting held in Rabat, Morocco, despite being forced to shelve a controversial plan to sell stakes in a company set up to run the World Cup to private investors.
The meeting, convened on Wednesday, brought together the FIFA secretary general and members of the management board to address the fallout from the scheme, known as FFE, which had drawn sharp criticism from across the football world before Infantino withdrew it.
In a statement released after the talks, FIFA said its secretary general and management board "reaffirmed their full support" for Infantino, describing him as "the only official elected by the 211 FIFA member associations." The statement added that Infantino, in turn, expressed his continued backing for the secretary general and the wider FIFA administration for what he called their "necessary and outstanding work" in delivering his vision for the organization.
FIFA struck a notably conciliatory tone in the aftermath of the summit, insisting the meeting's outcome would ultimately benefit the governing body. "FIFA's top management is fully confident that the outcomes of today's meeting will strengthen FIFA's governance, help restore confidence in the organisation and enable us to prepare for the major events and challenges ahead in a united and transparent manner while continuing our mission to develop the game around the world," the statement read.
Crucially, FIFA acknowledged that mistakes had been made in how the FFE proposal was handled. According to the statement, it was agreed that member associations and the FIFA Council should never have been made to feel excluded from the decision-making process, and that the matter "should have been handled differently." The organization also admitted that further errors occurred once details of the plan were leaked to the media.
As part of the fallout, FIFA confirmed that a separate letter had been sent to all member associations and the Council, formally apologizing for the missteps and pledging that similar errors would not be repeated in future. A review of the entire episode is now set to be carried out, with findings to be presented to the Council in due course.
Despite the concessions, FIFA struck a defiant note regarding future criticism, stating that with the FFE project now withdrawn, the organization "will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process" and would take "all necessary measures" to protect its name and reputation going forward.
The crisis meeting came amid mounting pressure on Infantino's leadership. UEFA has publicly stated it has "lost confidence" in the FIFA president, while both the English and Welsh football associations have withdrawn their support for his anticipated re-election bid next year.
The criticism has extended beyond federations to senior figures within football itself. FIFA's own chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, told the Associated Press last week that the administration had been "deceived" by Infantino over the handling of the plan. Portuguese football legend Luis Figo also weighed in on Wednesday, delivering a scathing assessment of the president's conduct, calling it "the lowest, most deceitful, and cravenly self-interested behaviour I have ever witnessed."
With the World Cup sale plan now officially abandoned and a formal review underway, attention will turn to whether the management board's show of unity in Rabat is enough to quiet growing dissent within FIFA's ranks ahead of a pivotal period for the organization and its embattled president.
Based on reporting from Standard Sport (Football).