Uefa has reinforced its warning that it could withdraw from Fifa-organised competitions, while confirming that it no longer has confidence in Gianni Infantino’s leadership.
European football’s governing body said Wednesday evening’s public show of support for Infantino “changes nothing”. It added that it has received no firm guarantees that a crisis like the one seen over the past nine days will not happen again. Last week, Uefa’s 55 member associations agreed to stay away from Fifa tournaments unless Infantino abandoned his privately financed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE). Although the initiative was cancelled last Friday, Uefa said the requirements for preventing a boycott have still not been fulfilled.
“Uefa’s member associations clearly outlined the conditions for taking part in Fifa competitions,” the organisation said in a statement. “The plans to sell the leading tournaments had to be abandoned, and firm guarantees were required to ensure that no similar attempt to reshape the game in this manner would be made again.
“Those requirements remain unfulfilled. Uefa also made clear in Saturday’s statement that it no longer trusts Gianni Infantino’s presidency, and that view has not changed. Public support from individuals employed by the Fifa president, whose careers rely on his approval, does not alter our position.”
The dispute surrounding football’s leadership therefore remains unresolved. Unless an agreement is secured before the Under-20 Women’s World Cup begins in Poland on 5 September, it could become the first competition affected by a Uefa-backed boycott.
Uefa still believes it may be able to take advantage of disagreements within Fifa’s senior leadership, despite the united front presented by Infantino after several management board members met in Rabat on Wednesday.
Several prominent figures were missing from the meeting. Arsène Wenger reportedly rejected an invitation to travel to Morocco in his role as Fifa’s head of global development because he wanted to distance himself from Infantino.
A day earlier, the former Arsenal manager had strongly criticised the proposed sale of World Cup rights. He said abandoning the plans was “absolutely necessary and beyond question” and urged his employers to demonstrate greater “transparency and integrity”.
Unlike Wenger, Fifa chief operating officer Kevin Lamour was not invited to the gathering, raising further doubts about his position. Lamour had described the proposals the previous week as “the project of one person”. Chief football officer Jill Ellis and chief women’s football officer Sarai Bareman were also absent from the meeting in Rabat.
Fifa said separate apologies had been issued to its council and member associations after they were excluded from the FFE process, and it also promised to conduct a review. However, reports suggest that many council members remain dissatisfied and that the apologies have done little to ease tensions.
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