Gianni Infantino convenes FIFA emergency meeting over World Cup fallout
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has convened an emergency meeting of senior football officials in Morocco as the world football governing body battles a deepening leadership crisis following the collapse of a controversial proposal to sell commercial stakes in the FIFA World Cup.
The emergency gathering comes against the backdrop of growing calls for Infantino's resignation after FIFA abandoned plans to sell an estimated £3.1 billion worth of commercial interests linked to the World Cup. The proposal reportedly triggered fierce opposition from several national football associations, with some threatening to boycott the tournament if the deal went ahead.
The backlash has widened across global football, with UEFA and CONCACAF among the confederations publicly urging Infantino to step aside.
Adding to the pressure, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, president of the Jordan Football Association, has joined the list of critics demanding the FIFA chief's resignation. His support reportedly raises the number of national associations backing the move to 91, with 106 votes required under FIFA's governance rules to remove the president from office.
Prince Ali insisted the crisis extends beyond the abandoned investment proposal, arguing that FIFA is facing broader governance issues.
"There is no shortage of issues regarding FIFA," he said while highlighting several challenges encountered by Jordan during the World Cup.
According to the Jordan FA president, many Jordanian fans who held valid match tickets struggled to obtain visas to attend games in the United States. He also claimed the association incurred significant tax liabilities because the team was based in the U.S. during the tournament.
Prince Ali further alleged that prize money owed to Jordan for finishing runners-up at the FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar has remained unpaid since December despite FIFA's healthy financial standing.
He also made a serious allegation against FIFA's leadership, claiming support for Infantino was informally tied to assistance for the Jordan Football Association.
"It was verbally communicated to me during the World Cup that if I endorsed Infantino, it would go a long way toward helping our FA," Prince Ali alleged.
"We pride ourselves in Jordan on upholding ethical values. We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now. The whole situation amounts to blackmail, and we refuse to give in to that."
The allegations represent some of the strongest public criticism directed at Infantino since details of the now-abandoned World Cup investment proposal emerged.
The crisis has also led to high-profile departures and public dissent within FIFA. Senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned last week, describing the proposed investment plan as "a bad deal for football."
Meanwhile, FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development, Arsène Wenger, welcomed the decision to abandon the proposal.
"I firmly believe in an independent FIFA that serves our game with commitment, transparency and integrity," Wenger said, adding that withdrawing the proposal was "absolutely necessary and beyond question."
FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström also criticised the initiative in a message to staff, describing the episode as "a sad and reproachable series of events" that ended with the proposal being permanently shelved.
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