Gianni Infantino has survived the immediate storm inside FIFA but the pressure around football’s most powerful office is not finished.
FIFA said senior staff at a Rabat meeting reaffirmed support for Infantino after criticism of the withdrawn FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, a commercial plan that drew sharp opposition across European football. AP reported that FIFA acknowledged mistakes around the proposal and said the meeting backed Infantino as the president elected by FIFA’s 211 member associations.
UEFA and its 55 national associations rejected FIFA’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors.
This is no longer just about a withdrawn plan. It is about trust, control of the World Cup, the future of football development money and whether member associations believe FIFA’s commercial machine is being pushed too far.
For Infantino, the Rabat meeting buys time. It gives FIFA a public image of internal support and allows the organization to frame the controversy as a process failure rather than a leadership collapse.
For UEFA and other critics, the fight may not be over. The withdrawn proposal exposed a deeper question over who controls football’s biggest commercial asset and how much of that power should sit inside FIFA’s presidency.
Infantino is still standing, but the World Cup money fight has exposed a crack that football’s power blocs may not quietly close.
Cranse Sports
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