Fifa last night issued a thinly-veiled attack on Uefa and other leading figures in European football in a statement which alleged there is a “concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine Fifa and its president,” as football’s civil war escalated further.
Uefa has made it clear they regard Infantino’s continued leadership of world football as untenable following his role in the World Cup sell-off plans, while the Guardian revealed on Friday the Norwegian Football Federation has publicly called on him to resign, with Fifa responding by accusing them of attempting to subvert the organisation’s democratic processes.
Fifa’s latest defence of Infantino followed Uefa’s confirmation on Saturday that a “departure payment” was made to a female employee who is alleged to have been in a relationship with Fifa president while he was the organisation’s general secretary over a decade ago.
The Daily Telegraph had reported on Friday night that the woman received a six-figure sum following the alleged relationship with Infantino, allegations Fifa dismissed as “categorically untrue.”
Fifa went further last night by accusing Infantino’s critics of attempting to remove him from office before next March’s presidential election.
As previously reported by the Guardian, Uefa is seeking support from other confederations to call an Emergency Fifa Congress to trigger a vote of no confidence in the president, but their own members can provide the 43 votes to call a meeting it is unclear whether they would reach the threshold of 106 of the 211 Fifa members required to unseat Infantino.
North American confederation Concacaf are aligned with Uefa, while there is some support amongst the Asian Football Confederation, but the Confederation of African Football and South American confederation Conmebol have both publicly announced their backing for Infantino.
“Echoing the recent statements of Conmebol and CAF, as well as discussions with Fifa Member Associations and Confederations from around the world, Fifa will not support, facilitate or tolerate any process concerning the election of the Fifa President that is inconsistent with Fifa’s Statutes, democratic procedures and established governance framework,” a Fifa spokesperson said. “The Fifa President was democratically elected by Fifa’s Member Associations and continues to serve with their mandate.
“The Fifa president was democratically elected by Fifa’s member associations and continues to serve with their mandate. Those who do not have the support of Fifa’s member associations should not seek to achieve through allegation, insinuation or misinformation what they cannot achieve through Fifa’s established democratic processes.”
Uefa had responded to Fifa’s proposal to sell 20% of a new company controlling the World Cup’s commercial assets with a threat backed by all 55 European countries to boycott their tournaments unless the plans were abandoned, which they were less than 48 hours later.
Significantly however, Uefa released a new statement last Thursday after Fifa had confirmed that Infantino retained the organisation’s “full support” following a crisis meeting of their management board in Rabat the previous day, saying that nothing had changed and that the boycott threat remained in place.
Fifa is now convinced that Uefa is behind coordinated attempts to remove Infantino. It is unclear what further concessions Uefa is demanding to cancel the boycott, which faces its first test next month at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland.
Fifa’s statement last night also included a new attack on the media, a well-worn tactic used by Infantino.
“Recent reporting has included unsubstantiated assertions and demonstrably false claims concerning Fifa and its president,” a spokesperson said. “Speculation and insinuation should not be presented as fact, and repetition does not make an allegation true.
“Fifa welcomes legitimate scrutiny. But scrutiny is not a licence to distort facts, amplify unsubstantiated allegations or manufacture distractions designed to undermine progress.
“Where reporting is inaccurate or misleading, Fifa will challenge it directly and vigorously. Fifa’s responsibility is to its 211 member associations and to football around the world. We will not be distracted or diverted from strengthening the organisation, delivering for our member associations and continuing the work of making football truly global.”
