UEFA is set to continue its boycott of the World Cup until Gianni Infantino is removed as FIFA president, Daily Mail Sport understands. European football's governing body issued a statement reiterating that it had lost confidence in Infantino following his aborted plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup.
UEFA had previously said the proposal would have to be withdrawn and that it would need assurances that such 'attempts to disfigure the game this way will never be made again' before it lifted its self-imposed ban.
It is believed that, as things stand, anything less than Infantino's departure would not be enough to ensure that champions Spain, England, France and Germany take part in four years' time. An international football insider told Daily Mail Sport: 'This had to be done. He has to go and this is the only way to force him out.'
On Wednesday night, FIFA announced Infantino had the backing of members of the body's council after crisis talks in Morocco. The Swiss had summoned officials to his hotel as part of what appears, for now, to be a successful attempt to cling to power. Following the summit, FIFA issued a statement saying executives had given their 'full support' to Infantino while acknowledging 'mistakes' in the dropped plan.
FIFA said it has now apologised in a letter to the various football associations and that a 'review' will be carried out.
FIFPRO warns of an 'abuse of power'
Alongside UEFA's continued anger, a withering statement from FIFPRO, the global union for professional footballers, hit out at Infantino and the FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme. 'FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) is gone. The abuse of power that produced it is not. Governance reforms, not a cover-up, are urgently needed,' the statement read.
FIFPRO said a plan capable of permanently altering the ownership and governance of the FIFA World Cup, and commercialising the competitions built by generations of players, was conceived in secrecy, negotiated behind closed doors and brought to the brink of agreement before the FIFA Council, the Member Associations, players and football's recognised stakeholders even knew it existed. 'That is not merely a governance failure. It is a profound abuse of presidential power,' it said.
The union called for 'structural safeguards to ensure these events can never be repeated', including legally binding engagement 'with professional football's stakeholders on decisions of major consequence' and voting rights for them on the FIFA council. It added that the withdrawal of FFE prevented an irreversible decision but did not restore the confidence that made such a proposal possible in the first place, and that this confidence 'cannot be rebuilt through carefully drafted statements, internal reviews or promises to improve processes'.
UEFA says conditions 'have not been met'
UEFA's initial statement on Saturday had branded Infantino's proposal to flog commercial and event operations as a 'shabby, back room, opaque deal'. After Infantino's apparent vote of confidence from FIFA council members, UEFA said its associations had been very clear about the conditions attached to their non participation in FIFA competitions. 'First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again,' the statement said. 'These conditions have not been met.'
UEFA added: 'Yesterday's announcement that some people employed by the FIFA President (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing.'
Figo's blistering attack
The backing for Infantino from within FIFA came hours after Luis Figo became the latest high-profile name to call for his head, in a blistering attack for Daily Mail Sport. Figo described Infantino's now-aborted plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors as the 'lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behaviour I have ever witnessed' and a 'grubby, underhand plot'.
Figo, the former Barcelona and Real Madrid star who initially backed Infantino in 2015, branded the Swiss a 'relic who should have no part in football's future' and accused him of 'a litany of abuses'. Aside from the World Cup sell-off, he referenced the decision to suspend the ban for USA striker Folarin Balogun after his red card at the World Cup and the half-time show during the final, which he said 'broke the laws of the game'.
'Infantino has debased the office of FIFA president he promised to elevate,' Figo wrote. 'He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve.'
Re-election looms in March
Should he survive, Infantino would face re-election in March, and would need 106 votes from FIFA's 211 members to win another term in charge of the global game. Infantino did receive some backing on Wednesday, with the Confederation of African Football reaffirming its support for the president.
