Gianni Infantino has called leading officials from football’s global governing organisation to talks in Morocco on Wednesday, following another day of intense criticism over his proposal to transfer Fifa’s commercial and event activities to a separate enterprise.
Arsene Wenger, Fifa’s head of global football development, secretary general Mattias Grafstrom and Jordanian Football Association president Prince Ali have each publicly opposed Infantino’s Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal.
Infantino, who has spent the past week in Morocco, arranged an executive meeting in Rabat in an effort to resolve the growing dispute.
In a statement released through Fifa, Wenger said abandoning the proposal was unquestionably essential.
In an internal message to Fifa employees, Grafstrom described the previous week as a regrettable and deeply troubling sequence of events.
Prince Ali also claimed Fifa had created circumstances resembling blackmail by linking outstanding prize payments to backing for Infantino’s re-election campaign.
Since 2019, Wenger’s responsibilities have included match-data analysis, Fifa’s digital training programmes and youth tournaments.
The former Arsenal manager had previously endorsed Infantino’s suggestion that the men’s World Cup should be staged every two years.
One week after Infantino’s investment proposal became public, Wenger released a statement through Fifa calling for the organisation to uphold openness and integrity.
Wenger said he wanted to clarify his position regarding the latest developments at Fifa.
He explained that he had taken no part in preparing the strategy and only learned about it from news coverage.
Wenger added that cancelling the initiative was plainly the right decision, stressing his belief that Fifa must remain independent and serve football with dedication, openness and integrity.
Wenger is among 18 Fifa representatives identified in a document-retention notice sent by Uefa as part of a possible legal challenge.
Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser for global strategy and governance, remains the only Fifa official to step down because of the controversy. He argued that the proposal was harmful to the sport and would place football’s long-term future at risk.
What do you feel about this post?
Like
Love
Happy
Haha
Sad
