Fifa bosses back Infantino to stay as president, apologise for World Cup sell-off plan
Games’ world governing body releases a statement in which senior staff reaffirm “their full support” for under-fire head Gianni Infantino
Fifa apologised for errors made over Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup, and said that senior staff in attendance at a crisis meeting in Morocco on Wednesday “reaffirmed their full support” for his presidency.
Football’s world governing body attempted to present a unified front amid the turbulence caused by Infantino’s controversial plans, with calls for him to step down.
In a statement, Fifa said Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom and members of the management board in Rabat had given their support to the embattled president.
Referring to the plans to sell profits in the World Cup through a commercial subsidiary called Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), the statement said “mistakes made were acknowledged” and that the “process should have been handled differently.”
Fifa said a letter had been sent to Fifa Council and member associations apologising for errors and committed to “ensure they do not happen again”.
Grafström’s stated support was notable after he distanced himself from Infantino’s now abandoned plans in an email to all Fifa staff calling the last week a “sad and reproachable series of events.”