A longtime associate of Gianni Infantino has declared that he would “take a bullet” for the Fifa president, insisting that Infantino continues to enjoy strong backing from the organisation’s influential congress despite growing calls for his removal.
However, Véron Mosengo-Omba, formerly Fifa’s chief member associations officer until 2021 and now head of the Congolese Football Federation (Fecofa), also questioned Infantino’s Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative, which proposed selling more than a 20% share of the World Cup to private investors.
Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation have intensified attempts to remove Infantino after issuing an open letter demanding “leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it”.
Fifa responded by accusing Infantino’s critics of conducting a coordinated and sustained campaign to weaken both the organisation and its president. Chief operating officer Kevin Lamour was dismissed on Monday after speaking out against Infantino’s unsuccessful proposal.
Uefa has reportedly approached other confederations about requesting an emergency Fifa congress and initiating a no-confidence vote. However, it remains uncertain whether the campaign can secure the support of 106 out of Fifa’s 211 member associations, the number needed to remove Infantino.
Mosengo-Omba, who has known Infantino closely since they attended university in Switzerland and who became Fecofa president without opposition in May, acknowledged that he disagreed with the disputed proposal while continuing to support Infantino’s presidency.
“Most national federations remain behind him. The congress can confirm that,” he said. “I did not submit a letter supporting Infantino because I disagreed with how the project was handled. People are attacking Gianni now, but I would still take a bullet for him.”
Mosengo-Omba continued: “Gianni presented an idea. Uefa markets the Champions League and the Euros through separate companies, and he was attempting something comparable. He has since abandoned the proposal, so why should that remain an issue? My concern, and where I believe Gianni went wrong, was the way the process was managed. It carried the risk of allowing numerous private businesses to take control of organising the World Cup. That is the criticism I have made to him.”
Working alongside US bank JP Morgan, Infantino intended FFE to generate hundreds of millions of dollars by offering investors a 21% stake in the World Cup’s commercial rights. The plan claimed it could produce more than $10bn (£7.5bn) in additional distributions for Fifa’s 211 member associations.
Mosengo-Omba left his position as general secretary of the Confederation of African Football in March after reaching the organisation’s age limit. Although the original proposal was firmly rejected, he is considering a revised model under which every confederation could purchase a World Cup stake and create additional income for its members.
“Gianni’s project had merit. I would support it with several adjustments,” he said. “One possibility would be to allow a confederation to acquire a 20% share. That could work. It is an idea I may bring before the next congress because I need funding to grow football in Congo. People here have very little. Such an arrangement could provide us with $20m annually, which would make a major difference to the country.”
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