FIFA’s chief of global football development, Arsène Wenger, and Secretary General Mattias Gråfström have both broken their silence on the collapsed plan to bring private investors into football’s governing body, as the organisation continues to grapple with the fallout from the scandal.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino had proposed creating a commercial subsidiary to run the organisation’s flagship events, including the World Cup, with external investors allowed to buy stakes in future profits.
As part of the pitch, Infantino offered FIFA’s 211 member associations $40 million (£30 million) each if they backed the proposal.
The plan collapsed after days of sustained criticism, including a threat by UEFA’s 55 member federations to boycott all FIFA tournaments, forcing Infantino to withdraw it.
Wenger, who has overseen FIFA’s data analysis, online training and youth competitions since 2019, issued a statement through the organisation distancing himself from the project.
“The recent events at FIFA deserve some clarity from my side,” he said, adding that he was not involved in the strategic plan and first became aware of it through media reports.
He said the decision to withdraw the project was “absolutely necessary and beyond question,” stressing his belief in an independent FIFA that serves the game with commitment, transparency and integrity.
The former Arsenal manager, who had previously backed Infantino’s separate push for a men’s World Cup every two years, is among 18 FIFA officials named in a document preservation letter that UEFA sent to FIFA as it weighs legal action over the scandal.
So far, Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, remains the only FIFA official to have resigned, describing the proposal as “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future.”
Gråfström also weighed in, telling staff in an internal memo that the past week had been “difficult to comprehend and accept.”
The Secretary General, a longtime Infantino ally who rose from chief of staff to secretary general in 2024, described the episode as “a sad and reproachable series of events,” but urged staff to stay focused on serving football and FIFA’s member associations, in full compliance with FIFA’s statutes and regulations.
He assured staff they would be “defended and safeguarded” from the political turmoil, telling them: “Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue.”
(The Whistler)