Contested for trying to open the World Cup to private investors, FIFA president Gianni Infantino proposed, Monday, September 21, “a consultation” in order to reform the governance of the body, in a letter to the 211 member federations.
“I will propose that the Council (of Fifa, editor’s note) organizes a direct, structured and time-limited consultation with the confederations, member associations and relevant stakeholders on how to further strengthen Fifa’s decision-making processes,” wrote Gianni Infantino, while the International Football Federation has been plunged into crisis since the revelation of the aborted project to create a commercial company open to private investors.
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“This consultation would invite the presentation of precise proposals concerning earlier involvement of institutional bodies, the respective roles of the President, the Bureau, the Council and the Congress, as well as concrete means of strengthening transparency, participation and accountability in major strategic initiatives,” added the Italian-Swiss leader.
Gianni Infantino proposes to study the first proposals from the Council scheduled for October 15, specifying that “the written contributions received subsequently, but within a reasonable time, will naturally also be examined”.
“Any resulting statutory changes would then be submitted to Congress for review and approval under the appropriate procedure,” it said.
A contested leader and governance
This initiative comes at a time when the boss of Fifa, a candidate for his own succession next March, has been greatly weakened for several weeks, with the world of football tearing itself apart around his governance, deemed opaque by his adversaries. The latter accuse him of having developed without consultation a project to create a commercial company open to private investors up to 20% to accommodate the proceeds from the World Cup.
The idea, rumored by The Times newspaper, was made official to everyone’s surprise on July 28, barely more than a week after Spain’s victory in the 2026 World Cup final.
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The man at the head of Fifa since 2016 quickly abandoned his project called “Fifa Forward Enterprise” (FFE) after facing fierce opposition from the European Confederation (UEFA), the Confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf) and the Asian Confederation (AFC).
Despite the withdrawal of the FFE project, UEFA, followed by Concacaf and the AFC, are maintaining pressure on Gianni Infantino, whose departure they are demanding.
With AFP
