UEFA maintains its boycott of FIFA-organized competitions despite Gianni Infantino’s withdrawal of his plan to privatize part of the World Cup rights. “The conditions to lift our boycott are not met. We have lost confidence in the FIFA president,” stated the European football governing body in a statement. According to UEFA, in their position last week, they demanded two things. First, the withdrawal of the plan. And second, that conditions be established so that a similar project could never be proposed again. “This second issue has not been fulfilled,” UEFA says. The organization chaired by Aleksander Ceferin does not believe in the unity front that Infantino wants to recover and has challenged him with the aim that the FIFA president does not remain in office.
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UEFA considers that the conditions to lift the boycott are not met and wants Infantino to step down
Meanwhile, under cover of night, FIFA released its conclusions about the summit held in Rabat on Wednesday. Under cover of night as is becoming customary and with an official version adjusted to the wishes of its president, Gianni Infantino. The leader is trying to weather the storm, to survive his biggest internal crisis caused by himself and his attempts to bring private capital into World Cup business, and tries to arrive in the best possible conditions for the March elections. That is why FIFA issued a statement saying that the president admitted mistakes in the presentation process of his failed plan, in which he offered excuses and warned that he would not tolerate attacks on his integrity. Also, incidentally, it was emphasized that Infantino has the support of his top management, despite his secretary general, Mattias Grafström, present at the Moroccan meeting, questioning him last week.
FIFA acknowledged that it made mistakes in its failed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project. The organization argued that the FIFA Council and member federations did not intend for them to feel excluded from the process and admitted that it “should have been managed differently” and that mistakes were also made “after the proposal was leaked to the media.”
Additionally, Infantino, in a separate letter sent to the FIFA Council and member federations, apologized for these mistakes “and committed to ensuring they do not happen again,” for which a review will be carried out and a report will be presented to the FIFA Council at its next meeting.
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That said, after the self-criticism, the shield. “After the withdrawal of the project, it was agreed that FIFA will not tolerate further attacks on its integrity, good governance, and due process, and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation. One always learns from this experience, and FIFA will continue to improve its processes. (…) While mistakes were made, everything done was carried out in full compliance with FIFA’s regulatory framework,” they add.
According to the organization’s spokespeople, the FIFA secretary general and members of its board supported Infantino, who in turn reiterated his “full support” for Mattias Grafström. All parties agreed that processes, communications, and interactions among them “can and should be continuously improved in terms of their effectiveness and efficiency.” Therefore, an attempt to close ranks and move forward.
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