FIFA president Gianni Infantino faces a vote of no confidence from UEFA after scrapping a plan to sell World Cup rights to private investors. European football's governing body declared the motion on Saturday morning following a week of widespread opposition from confederations and senior FIFA executives.
Infantino announced in the early hours of Saturday that he was abandoning the project to sell off a stake in FIFA's flagship events for £3.1 billion. The grand plan collapsed in less than four days after breaking as bombshell news at lunchtime on Tuesday.
The 56-year-old Swiss administrator is now fighting to stay in power as key confederations and senior FIFA officials turn against him. UEFA initiated the push to remove him from office following a seismic week for world football.
Details of the Proposed Sale
The crisis began when The Times revealed Infantino wanted to create a subsidiary company called FIFA Forward Enterprise. The entity was intended to run FIFA's flagship events, primarily the World Cup, in a deal that could be worth up to £15 billion.
Private investors would have been allowed to buy stakes in FIFA Forward Enterprise through a group led by Thrive Eternal, a United States venture capital firm. Thrive Eternal was founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Infantino offered the 211 member associations a £30 million cut if they agreed to the proposals by a September 19 deadline. However, the proposal triggered immediate outrage across global football governance.
Opposition from Football Confederations
UEFA was the first organization to voice opposition, issuing a strongly worded statement agreed unanimously and co-signed by the English Football Association and Europe's other 54 associations. The European body criticized Infantino for "a profound failure of leadership" and presiding over "governance by intimidation".
UEFA added: "None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA's to sell." The confederation also threatened to boycott the World Cup if Infantino refused to back down and abandon his plans.
Resistance grew on Thursday and Friday as two additional confederations rejected the proposal. CONCACAF, which represents 41 countries across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, expressed "deep concerns about the lack of due process surrounding the proposal and the artificially short deadline imposed".
The Asian Football Confederation also condemned the initiative, stating: "Football should never have been placed in such a position. It has exposed fundamental weaknesses in FIFA's consultation and decision-making processes that must now be addressed."
Infantino required a majority of the 211 member nations to vote through his proposals, but 136 associations were already opposed to him. FIFA issued a statement on Friday morning insisting that "nobody is selling football", but opposition continued to grow.
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham also questioned Infantino's position. Burnham said: "This was an outrageous suggestion. The idea that it could even be brought forward, in my view, shows that the FIFA president is the wrong man to lead the organisation."
Resignations and Internal Revolt
Infantino suffered further damage when two of his senior aides turned against him within a few hours. Carlos Cordeiro, who served as FIFA's representative on the White House taskforce for the World Cup and was a key Infantino ally, stepped down from his position.
Cordeiro said: "As a senior adviser to the FIFA president, a former banker, and a lifelong football fan, I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup. I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally. It is a bad deal for FIFA's member associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game."
Cordeiro added: "Selling a permanent stake in football's most valuable asset to raise $4.2bn makes little sense. It is mortgaging football's future without any compelling justification."
FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour then quit, claiming Infantino had "deceived" his own administration and accusing him of a "lie by omission". Lamour blasted the proposal as "the project of one person".
Lamour added: "This (lie) and unilateral exercise of power are not trivial. They are indicative of a lack of trust, a lack of transparency, a lack of discernment, a lack of good governance. And a serious lack of respect."
Lamour continued: "Not only must this project not go ahead, but the time has now come for football political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions."
Lamour stated: "My colleagues - some of whom have dedicated their lives to football - deserve better than contempt and intimidation. The ball is now in the court of those who have the power to change things. I know I have a duty of loyalty to my employer. But I also, and above all, have a duty of loyalty to certain values and to the upbringing I have received, and a duty to support my colleagues. And if that means I lose my job, then so be it. I will understand and respect that decision. At least I'll sleep well tonight."
U-Turn and No Confidence Vote
Shortly after midnight, Infantino bowed to pressure and announced he was scrapping the proposals. Infantino stated that "it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place".
The announcement failed to resolve the situation, as UEFA declared a vote of no confidence in Infantino on Saturday morning. Europe's governing body criticized Infantino for the "shabby, back-room, opaque deal he hatched" and promised to work with other confederations to "identify those responsible and hold them to account".
UEFA added: "This is a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story. The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has only just begun."
Challenges to the FIFA Presidency
The collapse comes just two weeks after Infantino joined President Donald Trump in handing over the Jules Rimet trophy to Spain in New Jersey, wearing a dark suit and white trainers. Infantino had spent the previous six weeks flitting around North America in a private jet, celebrating the new 48-team World Cup format as a success.
Infantino has held the FIFA presidency for 10 years and was expected to win re-election for a fourth term unopposed at the next FIFA congress in Morocco in March. However, dwindling support makes a rival candidate increasingly likely.
CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani has emerged as an early contender to run against Infantino. Other potential candidates include current FIFA general secretary Mattias Granstrom and Dariusz Mioduski, a vice-president of the European Football Clubs body.
