Following the revocation of investment plans by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, UEFA has taken a strong stance against the FIFA leadership. The European governing body announced on Saturday that in the coming days and weeks, they plan to collaborate with other confederations to develop a strategy to ensure such incidents are never repeated. UEFA added that no option should be excluded in this process, stating that “the current FIFA leadership has lost not only the confidence of UEFA but also that of many other members of the football family.”
UEFA welcomed FIFA’s decision to withdraw plans for the partial privatization of tournaments such as the World Cup. The European association explained that this proposal had been unanimously rejected by the national associations of UEFA, as well as by numerous other associations and confederations worldwide whose duty it is to protect the sport.
The association also issued sharp personal criticism of Infantino. UEFA pointed out that during his 2016 campaign for FIFA President, he had promised transparency and assured member associations that FIFA’s money was ultimately the money of those associations. “He failed to keep both of these promises,” UEFA said, adding that the “scandalous, behind-closed-doors negotiated and opaque deal that he attempted to hatch and push through was anything but transparent.” Furthermore, given that FIFA holds reserves exceeding five billion dollars, UEFA criticized him for failing to use these funds for the “welfare of the sport.”
