Embattled Infantino target of letter from three confederations

FIFA president Gianni Infantino came under renewed fire on Monday as a joint letter from three confederations — UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC — declared football “belongs to no individual”.

Infantino has been the butt of scathing criticism ever since launching, and then withdrawing within days, a plan to bring private investment into FIFA competitions, including World Cups.

FIFA had hit back on Saturday at “a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine” football’s governing body and Infantino.

However, Monday’s letter from the governing bodies of European football (UEFA), North and Central America (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC), showed his critics are unbowed.

“Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding — or demanding — power to be held,” they wrote.

“When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned,” the confederations added.

The three confederations had been vociferous in their condemnation of Infantino’s plan and had not let up after it was shelved.

CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani is viewed as a potential challenger to Infantino, who will seek a fourth and final term at the FIFA presidential election in Rabat next March.

Candidates have to be declared by November 18.

UEFA’s threat to boycott World Cups if the private investment plan went ahead — in theory depriving the competition of teams including reigning men’s champions Spain and 2026 semi-finalists France and England — proved pivotal in Infantino withdrawing his plan.

Prior to this debacle Infantino had looked likely to be unopposed, after overseeing a successful World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The 56-year-old Swiss, who has been in situ for 10 years, has received the backing of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) while South American governing body CONMEBOL are largely supportive.

The confederations do not vote as blocs and there have been some supportive voices for Infantino from CONCACAF, Mexico, and two AFC members — Kuwait and 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, where he has a house.

Although the proposal has been dead in the water for over a week now — UEFA had termed it “a shabby, opaque, backroom deal” — the confederations harangued him for a lack of judgment.

“FIFA’s recent letter to its Vice-Presidents and 211 Member Associations acknowledges that mistakes were made in the process,” they said.

“It treats this as a failure of communication, when what football witnessed was a failure of judgment.”

‘Accountability’

Although Infantino had received the “full support” of senior FIFA directors last week in an emergency meeting he called in Morocco, the confederations said it was meaningless.

“This recent meeting, where a select number of members of the FIFA Management Committee — not the full Committee — were summoned abroad, rather than leadership going to Zurich to address the heart of FIFA, its staff, only reinforces these concerns and represents a continuation of the very pattern of conduct that brought us to this moment,” they said.

“It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him.”

Infantino had been basking in the afterglow of a hugely successful World Cup — the largest ever involving 48 teams.

However, the confederations made clear in the letter that it was not just Infantino who had made this possible.

“The growth over the past decade has been real,” they said.

“But that progress was never the work of one individual.

“It was the product of FIFA, the Confederations, the Member Associations, and the thousands of people who dedicate their lives to the game.

“The expanded tournaments, the awarding of the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups, the distribution of resources to associations. These were shared achievements, agreed together, delivered together.”

The confederations signed off their letter by claiming that under Infantino’s leadership “there is silence where there should be accountability, distance where there should be openness”.

They added: “That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve. Football’s strength has always been its unity.”