<\/p>\n
President Gianni Infantino held emergency talks with other FIFA directors in Morocco on Wednesday, a source told AFP, amid a wave of criticism over his now shelved plan to open the World Cup to private investment.<\/p>\n
Infantino has come under increasing pressure, even from within FIFA, over his handling of the proposal, and calls for him to step down have grown since he abandoned it last Saturday.<\/p>\n
Infantino has been reported to have sought support from former great players known as \u2018FIFA Legends\u2019.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However his plea fell on deaf ears with one of them, former Barcelona and Real Madrid star Luis Figo sending him a clear message \u2014 \u201cGo\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could write 10,000 words on the problems at FIFA. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go,\u201d Figo wrote in the Daily Mail on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve me, I have met some rogues in my time in the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what I have seen exposed in the last 10 days is the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behaviour I have ever witnessed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe man who would do that -\u2013 the man who would try to force through such major changes just to enrich himself and his friends -\u2013 is a relic of the game\u2019s past and should have no part in its future.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those believed to be at the meeting is FIFA\u2019s secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom, whose internal email to staff criticising the plan was leaked on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Infantino, a 56-year-old Swiss lawyer \u2014 who is holding the meeting in FIFA\u2019s Africa regional office in Sale close to Rabat \u2014 was in Morocco to celebrate last week\u2019s Feast of the Enthronement.<\/p>\n
Morocco is to co-host the 2030 World Cup and Moroccan Football chief\u00a0Fouzi Lekjaa is one of the few to have publicly supported Infantino since the humiliating climbdown.<\/p>\n
Lekjaa last Saturday had praised his \u201cwise\u201d move to scrap the plan in the interests of \u201cunity and cohesion\u201d.<\/p>\n
He reiterated his backing for Infantino for \u201call the initiatives aimed at the development of world football\u201d during his 10 years in charge.<\/p>\n
Infantino had been basking in the warm afterglow of a highly successful World Cup \u2014 the largest ever with 48 teams and co-hosted by three countries, Canada, Mexico and the US.<\/p>\n
His wish to serve a fourth and final term looked likely to be rubber-stamped in Rabat next March \u2014 no other candidate had come forward to challenge him.<\/p>\n
However, Tuesday last week all that faded.<\/p>\n
FIFA, world football\u2019s governing body, floated the plan, saying it could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for a new commercial subsidiary, called the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which it proposed would run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.<\/p>\n
It said that, if approved, the project could provide each of FIFA\u2019s 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027, and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $8 million to $20 million.<\/p>\n
Instead of acting as a sweetener it produced a furious backlash, with European football\u2019s governing body UEFA resorting on Thursday to the nuclear option of boycotting the sport\u2019s jewel in the crown, the World Cup.<\/p>\n
By Saturday Infantino held his hands up and withdrew the plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur purpose has always been \u2014 and will always be \u2014 to unite and improve,\u201d said Infantino.<\/p>\n
If he had hoped for that to be sufficient to shore up his authority he was to be swiftly disabused.<\/p>\n
UEFA termed the proposal a \u201cshabby, back room, opaque deal\u201d hatched by Infantino.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA\u2019s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,\u201d UEFA said in a statement.<\/p>\n
North and Central American football\u2019s governing body CONCACAF went further still and called for \u201ca comprehensive reckoning with this presidency\u201d while slamming Infantino\u2019s \u201cpoor governance and leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n
Grafstrom\u2019s leaked email only added fuel to the fire.<\/p>\n
He described the fiasco surrounding the proposal as \u201ca sad and reproachable series of events\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIndividuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go. The institution, its mission and its responsibility towards world football continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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