FIFA pledges to defend Infantino after World Cup rights plan collapses

Infantino has faced leadership crisis as UEFA, AFC and Concacaf threaten drastic actions over commercial rights plan.

FIFA’s leadership has reaffirmed its “full support” for President Gianni Infantino, days after he was forced to abandon a plan to sell off World Cup commercial rights that triggered a rare revolt within world football’s governing body.

The declaration followed a crisis meeting in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday, called after mounting pressure from UEFA and other confederations threatened to derail Infantino’s expected re-election to a fourth term at FIFA’s Congress in March.

In a statement, FIFA said Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom and members of its management board reiterated their backing for Infantino as “the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations”.

Infantino reciprocated support for Grafstrom and FIFA’s administration.

Officials acknowledged that “mistakes were made” over the now-withdrawn FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, which would have sold a 20 percent stake in a new commercial rights body to private investors to raise $4.2bn, and involved a company with family ties to US President Donald Trump.

FIFA said an apology had been issued in a separate letter to its managing council and member associations, with a review and report to follow. The organisation added it would “no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity” and would take “all necessary measures” to defend its reputation.

The meeting followed days of open dissent.

UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, said it had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership and issued FIFA with a “document preservation letter”. Infantino’s senior adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned in protest, and former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger distanced himself from the plan.

The Times of London reported that UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation were prepared to paralyse FIFA or launch rival competitions if Infantino did not step aside, though some federations, including Qatar and several African associations, have publicly backed him.