PARIS.- The president of the FIFA, Gianni Infantinoproposed this Monday “a consultation” to the federations in order to reform the organization’s governance, in a letter addressed to the 211 member associations and of which the AFP obtained a copy.
This move by the football boss is a new attempt to close the serious crisis that opened with the revelation of FIFA’s frustrated project to create a commercial company open to private investors.
“I will propose that the (FIFA) Council organize a direct, structured and time-limited consultation with the confederations, member associations and affected stakeholders on how to further strengthen FIFA’s decision-making processes,” Infantino wrote.
“This consultation would invite the presentation of precise proposals on an earlier involvement of institutional bodies, the respective roles of the president, the office, the council and the congress, as well as the concrete means to reinforce transparency, participation and responsibility in major strategic initiatives,” he added.
The Italian-Swiss leader proposes studying the first proposals at the council scheduled for October 15, specifying that “the written contributions received later, but within a reasonable period, will naturally be examined as well.”
“Any statutory modification resulting from this will subsequently be submitted to Congress for examination and approval in accordance with the appropriate procedure,” he stated.
Pressure from UEFA and Concacaf
The head of FIFA, a candidate for his own succession in March 2027, is greatly weakened since the failed attempt to create a commercial company open to private investors to house FIFA assets, including the World Cup.
Finally, Infantino had to withdraw this plan that was going to be born without prior consultation, baptized FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), after having faced fierce opposition from the European Confederation (UEFA), of the Confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf) and the Asian Confederation (AFC).
Despite the withdrawal of the FFE initiative, UEFA, followed by Concacaf and the AFC, maintains pressure on Infantino and calls for his resignation.
The European confederation is also preparing a lawsuit for “unfair management” against the president of football’s governing body.
The top officials of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, and from Concacaf, Victor Montagliani They also asked FIFA on Friday to pay “at least $10 million” to each of the 211 member federations and demanded “an independent audit, with full access to the figures.”
These resources would be used to finance investments in infrastructure and the development of football. In total it would be an amount of about 2.1 billion dollars.
