“UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency. That position holds,” they said.
Infantino had gained some respite on Wednesday when he held an emergency meeting of senior FIFA directors in Morocco.
They had backed him, issuing a statement saying he had their “full support” but apologising “for errors made after the proposal was leaked to the media”.
UEFA dismissed this show of support, which included FIFA secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom, whose leaked email to staff on Tuesday had criticised the plan.
“Yesterday’s announcement that some people employed by the FIFA President (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing,” said UEFA.
FIFA floated the plan last Tuesday, saying it could raise to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for a new commercial subsidiary, called the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which it proposed would run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.
It said that, if approved, the project could provide each of FIFA’s 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027 and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $8 million to $20 million.
However, following global backlash, Infantino abandoned the proposal days later.
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