FIFA: Weakened, Infantino holds a crisis meeting in Morocco

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, under fire after a failed plan to open the world body to private investors, is holding a crisis meeting with senior officials of the organization in Morocco on Wednesday.

This meeting is being held in the morning at FIFA's Africa headquarters, within the Mohammed VI complex in Salé, near Rabat, a source close to the matter told AFP on condition of anonymity.

At one of the entrances to the complex, an AFP journalist saw several vehicles pass by, including three vans with tinted windows.

The meeting was not open to the press, according to the source.

No further information has been released at this time.

The precise reasons for choosing Morocco to host this meeting are still unknown. The country is slated to co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.

Mr. Infantino was nevertheless in the kingdom for the Throne Day celebrations last week.

- Outcry -

At the helm of FIFA for ten years, Gianni Infantino has multiplied divisive projects, until last week announcing his intention to create an external company (the FIFA Forward Enterprise, FFE) to manage the commercial activities of the organization and tournaments such as the World Cups, with the arrival of private investors.

Presented to everyone's surprise last Tuesday after it was revealed by the press, the project was finally withdrawn on Friday night in the face of opposition from many football players, including the European confederation (UEFA).

Several FIFA executives have distanced themselves from Infantino in recent days, including Arsène Wenger, the organization's current director of global football development, and the organization's secretary general, Mattias Grafström.

In a letter to FIFA employees, seen by AFP, he expressed regret over "a series of sad and reprehensible events" which "fortunately led to the permanent abandonment" of the project.

Gianni Infantino's chief advisor Carlos Cordeiro had already resigned on Friday, saying he "categorically" opposed Infantino's plan.

- External pressures -

The internal dissent within FIFA comes on top of external pressures, notably from the powerful UEFA but also from Concacaf (the North American and Caribbean confederation), which, after torpedoing the FFE project, have directly criticized Infantino.

Concacaf thus called last week for a "complete overhaul" of the governance of the FIFA president, while UEFA, which had brandished the threat of a boycott of the World Cups to get its way, said it had "lost confidence" in Infantino.

In a letter sent to FIFA on Friday and seen by AFP, UEFA "officially notifies that it is actively considering taking legal action."

Infantino is currently the only declared candidate for re-election as head of FIFA, in a vote that will take place in March 2027 in Rabat.

The 56-year-old Italian-Swiss needs a majority of the 211 member federations to secure a new and final four-year term. So far, a handful of federations (Finland, Wales, Serbia, Sweden) have officially withdrawn their support.

Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, president of the Jordanian Football Federation, accused Infantino of "blackmail" on Tuesday. "For months, FIFA refused to help us on these or other issues, until I was told verbally, during the World Cup, that if I supported Infantino, it would greatly help our federation," the official told X.