UEFA has insisted that FIFA’s fresh vote of confidence in Gianni Infantino will not stop its planned boycott of FIFA-organised competitions, maintaining that it no longer trusts the embattled president’s leadership.
The European football body said Wednesday night’s declaration of support for Infantino “changes nothing,” stressing that it still has no assurance the governance crisis of the past nine days won’t repeat itself.
UEFA’s 55 member associations had resolved last week to stay away from FIFA tournaments unless Infantino scrapped his privately funded FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan.
The scheme was pulled last Friday, but UEFA says that alone isn’t enough to call off the boycott.
“UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to their non-participation in FIFA competitions,” the body said in a statement.
“First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.
“These conditions have not been met… Yesterday’s announcement that some people employed by the FIFA president agree with him changes nothing.”
With no resolution in sight, the crisis could hit its first real target on 5 September, when the Under-20 Women’s World Cup kicks off in Poland – the tournament that stands to become the first casualty of a UEFA-led boycott if the standoff drags on.
FIFA had hoped Wednesday’s show of solidarity from its leadership, following a meeting in Rabat, would calm nerves.
It appears to have done the opposite. UEFA says it still sees cracks it can exploit within FIFA’s top ranks, and the guest list from Rabat gave weight to that theory.
Arsène Wenger, FIFA’s chief of global development, skipped the meeting entirely – a deliberate snub, sources say, after he tore into the sell-off plan a day earlier and demanded more transparency from his employers.
Also missing were chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, who had earlier dismissed the scheme as “the project of one person,” chief football officer Jill Ellis, and chief women’s football officer Sarai Bareman.
FIFA’s statement pointed to apologies sent to its council and member associations for shutting them out of the FFE process.
But that has done little to calm frayed nerves inside the organisation, with a large chunk of council members reportedly still fuming.
As if UEFA’s stance wasn’t enough pressure, global players’ union Fifpro piled on with a scathing statement accusing FIFA and Infantino of abusing their power – barely months after signing a truce with FIFA on the eve of the World Cup in June.
“FFE is gone, but the abuse of power that produced it is not,” Fifpro said, demanding sweeping governance reforms and insisting players be given voting rights on the FIFA council, a body it says Infantino routinely sidesteps.
There was also drama out of Jordan. FA president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein revealed FIFA had finally paid bonuses owed to the national team for its Arab Cup final run in Qatar last December – just 48 hours after he accused FIFA of “blackmail” over threats to cut funding unless his federation backed Infantino’s re-election.
Even with the money now in, Prince Ali wasn’t backing down. “It does not change my clear position concerning the leadership of FIFA,” he wrote on X. “My FA and I will not endorse president Infantino, nor will we vote for him.”
Clubs globally have their own grievance simmering – still waiting on a share of £185m in solidarity funds held back from last year’s Club World Cup, even as the £740m prize pot for participating clubs was paid out without delay.
(The Whistler)
