PARIS.- The emblematic and respected Arsene Wenger or the secretary general Mattias Grafstrom: from the heart of the FIFA several voices distance themselves from the president Gianni Infantino and the aborted project to open to private investors, with the re-election of the Swiss Italian in the air.
“The decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and incontestable,” Wenger, who since 2019 has served as director of world football development, declared in a statement on Tuesday.
The former coach of Arsenal This was referring to the controversial proposal to create a company, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), with which Infantino hoped to raise $4.2 billion by selling 20% of the shares to private investors, based on a valuation of FFE of $20 billion.
This plan, announced a week ago, sparked criticism of Infantino, and was rejected by three confederations, forcing the Italian-Swiss to back down definitively on Saturday.
“I firmly believe in an independent FIFA that serves our game with commitment, transparency and integrity,” added Wenger, who clarified that he had not been “involved in the project,” which he learned about “through the media.”
“Individuals pass”
Wenger is not the only one within FIFA to have distanced himself from the project and from Infantino.
In an internal email sent to FIFA employees and to which AFP had access, the institution’s secretary general, Grafström, lamented a “sad and reprehensible series of events”, which “happily concluded with the permanent abandonment” of the project.
“Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go,” says Grafström, Infantino’s former chief of staff when the latter became FIFA president in 2016.
“The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue,” concluded the 45-year-old Swiss, general secretary since 2024.
Earlier, on Friday, Infantino’s main advisor, the American Carlos Cordeirowho said he “categorically” opposed the project, which he considered “bad for the long-term future of the game.”
This opposition from within FIFA adds to the already strong external pressure, led by the UEFA, but seconded by the Concacaf, the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean. Both institutions attacked the FFE project and have criticized Infantino ever since.
UEFA studies judicial measures
Concacaf last week called for a “complete review” of Infantino’s leadership, while UEFA said it had “lost confidence” in him.
In a letter sent to FIFA on Friday and consulted by AFP, UEFA “officially notifies that it actively plans to initiate legal action.”
With this objective, the European body asked to “identify, locate and preserve all documents and electronically stored information” about the FFE, so that elements that could harm a judicial process are not destroyed.
Within many European clubs, discontent is also increasing over the Club World Cup 2025the first edition that had 32 participants, a wish of Infantino. A solidarity mechanism had been planned to distribute among non-participating clubs, a bonus not yet paid.
The next edition, scheduled for 2029, could be threatened: there is still no agreement between FIFA and the clubs to release the players, and there will not be one if the situation in the highest football body does not change, according to a leading football source to AFP.
That same source indicates that the feeling in Europe It goes beyond the person of Infantino and that “a structural change” is needed in FIFA’s governance.
Despite the pressure, Infantino is far from having lost the race in the elections for the FIFA presidency, scheduled for March 2027 and in which he aspires to re-election, being at the moment the only candidate.
The Italian-Swiss will need the support of 106 of FIFA’s 211 member federations for a new and final four-year mandate.
So far, four federations, all European (Finland, Wales, Serbia and Sweden) have withdrawn support.
