Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, has stressed that he enjoys the support of the “overwhelming majority” of world football, brushing off with laughter questions about his resignation following controversy over the sale of World Cup media rights. In a rare interview with BBC Sport, he took a defiant stance regarding his position after the controversial proposal of “FIFA Forward Enterprise” (FFE), admitting that it was not always easy to bring different views together. He stressed that “there is nothing wrong with disagreement” and that it is normal to have different views, but that one must then move forward.
Two months ago, Infantino faced numerous calls to step down from the post of president of the organisation he has led since 2016. The heads of UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Concacaf had signed a letter accusing the FIFA president of breach of trust “through deception”. Last week, UEFA demanded that FIFA publish all key documents related to FFE by 2 November, with UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis stating that the organisation had not addressed “a series of essential questions”. FFE, a proposal that Infantino cancelled within a few days, envisaged the sale of the commercial rights to FIFA competitions to a private investment firm.
Since the letter was submitted, Infantino has travelled around the world, appearing in Morocco, the Dominican Republic, Cape Verde and Japan, succeeding in strengthening support to the point where his re-election as president for a fourth term next year now appears inevitable. He has also proposed increasing the amount of money distributed for football development worldwide by $3.4 billion. During the interview, he reflected on the “full approval” from the Asian Football Confederation – following a change of stance by its president – and the support of “all African countries”.
However, only last week, he apologised to the FIFA Council for “communication and consultation” regarding FFE. Council members had told him at that meeting that he was not “fit to be president of FIFA” if he did not provide the requested documents, including the reasoning behind FFE. When asked when he would provide the documents, he did not give a clear answer, saying that they had to follow a “legal process” and that they were “working on it”. He added that they would answer all questions “as far as the process allows”.
Speaking from the U-15 World Cup in Azerbaijan, Infantino said that he and the FIFA administration were doing “the best we can”, but admitted that they had done “some things that are perhaps less good”. He also stressed the need for dialogue “more often” with UEFA, in an attempt to repair their strained relationship. Asked by the BBC whether he was fit to be president of FIFA and whether he had considered resigning, he laughed, before saying that he had been elected by 211 member associations and that it was important to respect the views of the overwhelming majority in a democratic organisation like FIFA.
The deadline for candidates to confirm their candidacy against Infantino for the March elections is 18 November, although none has yet filed and he could run unopposed. The U-15 World Cup in Azerbaijan, which features teams from 189 member associations, includes Russia, marking the country’s first appearance in a FIFA-sanctioned tournament since Russian teams were suspended in February 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine. The tournament is for boys only, while next year’s will be for girls only, and from 2028 FIFA’s plan is for boys and girls to compete every year. Infantino described the event as “beautiful to unite the world at such a young age”.
Taken from BBC News