UEFA Loses Confidence in FIFA After Scrapped Investment Plan
FIFA's decision on Saturday to abandon its proposal to sell stakes in its world‑championship competitions has drawn a sharp response from UEFA and other football governing bodies.
UEFA states it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s leadership.
“The current Fifa leadership has not only lost Uefa’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” the European federation’s statement read. It warned that the proposal had been “a bad deal for football” and could “mortgage football’s future.”
Infantino’s own operating director, Kevin Lamour, said that the governing body’s administration had been “deceived” about the project, and senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned over the controversy.
UEFA welcomed the withdrawal as “a victory for the whole game” and called the plan a “shabby, back‑room, opaque” deal that had failed to live up to the promise of transparency that Infantino pledged in 2016 when gaining election.
The fallout has spurred calls for a new FIFA leader and raised questions about the future of the world cup’s financial governance. Other confederations also joined the chorus of opposition to the original scheme, and the debate over stewardship of international football will likely intensify over the coming weeks.
