FIFA's leadership has reaffirmed its full support for President Gianni Infantino following the collapse of a plan to sell off World Cup commercial rights that triggered a rare revolt inside world football's governing body.
The declaration came out of a crisis meeting held Wednesday in Rabat, Morocco, according to Yahoo Sports. The meeting was called after mounting pressure from UEFA and other confederations threatened to derail Infantino's expected re-election to a fourth term at FIFA's Congress in March.
In a statement, FIFA said Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom and members of its management board reiterated their backing for Infantino as "the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations." Infantino in turn expressed support for Grafstrom and FIFA's administration.
The now-withdrawn plan, called the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, would have sold a 20 percent stake in a new commercial rights body to private investors to raise $4.2 billion. The proposal also involved a company with family ties to U.S. President Donald Trump. Officials acknowledged that "mistakes were made" over the plan. FIFA said an apology had been issued in a separate letter to its managing council and member associations, with a review and report to follow.
The organization also stated it would "no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity" and would take "all necessary measures" to defend its reputation.
The meeting followed days of open dissent from some of the sport's most powerful bodies. UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, said it had lost confidence in Infantino's leadership and issued FIFA with a "document preservation letter." Infantino's senior adviser, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned in protest. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also distanced himself from the plan.
The Times of London reported that UEFA, Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation were prepared to paralyze FIFA or launch rival competitions if Infantino did not step aside. Not all federations broke with him, however. Qatar and several African associations publicly backed the FIFA president.
The crisis has put Infantino's political standing inside the organization under significant strain heading into the March Congress, where he had been expected to secure a fourth term without serious opposition.
