Infantino lives to fight another day, but a full-blown football civil war is brewing
While Fifa’s leadership has given Gianni Infantino ‘their full support’, there are still many parties demanding he step down
If a week is a long time in politics, then the past 10 days must have felt like an eternity for Fifa president Gianni Infantino – that’s how long it has taken for a man who has ruled football and cosied up to world leaders for years to seemingly be on the verge of losing it all.
On Wednesday, the Swiss lawyer was in Morocco holding crisis talks with senior Fifa officials as he battled to save his job, when he should have been starting a seven-month-long coronation ahead of securing a fourth and final term in one of the most powerful positions in the world.
While the leadership of football’s governing body – at least those in attendance – reaffirmed their “full support” for the 56-year-old, that was just the latest shot in a conflict threatening to become all-out civil war within the game, and came shortly after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he did not “have confidence in Mr Infantino after this point”.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham had previously said Infantino was the “wrong man to lead the organisation”, while former Real Madrid star Luis Figo, a member of the Fifa Legends who was reportedly asked to support the game’s top executive, offered a blunter assessment.