“How did you become bankrupt?” one character asks another in Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises. “Little by little, and then all at once,” is the answer. Fifa president Gianni Infantino now appears to be undergoing a comparable collapse in his authority. Since assuming control of football’s global governing organisation in 2016, Mr Infantino […]
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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 […]
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1) Divide the governing body into separate units How can the organisation responsible for staging football’s largest tournament also act as the authority that writes and enforces the sport’s rules? The latest World Cup highlighted the problems created by this dual role, with Fifa appearing willing to adjust established regulations on matters such as suspension […]
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Gianni Infantino remains engaged in efforts to secure his position after holding urgent discussions with senior officials in Rabat on Wednesday. The Fifa president, who is facing mounting pressure, has spent the past week in Morocco after joining celebrations for Throne Day, marking 27 years since King Mohammed VI took the throne. He is expected […]
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In the past few decades, Salé, situated across the river from Rabat on Morocco’s Atlantic shoreline, has changed dramatically. At the beginning of the century, it remained a rugged working-class city whose worn historic quarter was convincing enough to portray Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in the film Black Hawk Down. Since then, however, the country’s authoritarian […]
Continue ReadingGianni Infantino’s standing suffered another setback after Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafström, his second-in-command, described the abandoned private investment proposal for the World Cup as a “regrettable and deeply troubling sequence of events”. Further signs that senior figures within Fifa are distancing themselves from Infantino and the unsuccessful initiative emerged on Tuesday morning, when Arsène […]
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Several Concacaf nations are considering joining European associations in formally withdrawing their endorsement of Fifa president Gianni Infantino. Before the World Cup, all 41 members of the confederation representing North America, Central America and the Caribbean reportedly submitted letters supporting Infantino’s re-election. Many are now seriously considering reversing that decision. Finland became the first of […]
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The Football Association of Wales has ended its backing for Gianni Infantino’s campaign to remain Fifa president after his mishandled attempt to sell private investors shares in the World Cup. Infantino confirmed last week that he had abandoned the heavily criticised proposal, which three confederations opposed. However, his decade in charge of Fifa continues to […]
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European football associations are preparing to increase pressure on Gianni Infantino by collectively withdrawing the letters that endorsed his campaign for another term as Fifa president. Infantino’s leadership is facing a serious threat following the failure of his privately funded proposal to sell parts of the World Cup. The plan was largely derailed after Uefa […]
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Gianni Infantino is confronting opposition from members of the Fifa Council who are seeking to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), a move that could escalate into a direct challenge to his leadership. Efforts to secure an EGM had reportedly begun before details emerged of Infantino’s abandoned proposal to sell shares in the World Cup. […]
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