Uefa warns Infantino over Fifa leadership, demands governance review

Uefa has warned Gianni Infantino that his style of leadership cannot continue in demanding a thorough and fundamental review of Fifa’s governance.

In a strongly worded statement that referred to “secret schemes”, “shabby backroom deals” and “faceless individuals”, the Uefa leadership made clear it wants change at the top of Fifa, despite the world governing body’s overnight U-turn in abandoning Infantino’s plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup and other competitions.

While stopping short of calling for Infantino to resign, Uefa’s leadership is understood to be determined that he should not be permitted to survive a crisis of his own making, a view that is shared by many of the biggest football governing bodies across the world. Leading European officials are already understood to have begun the process of identifying a candidate to stand against Infantino in next year’s Fifa presidential election, which will continue over the next few days.

Uefa’s statement made clear that under the leadership of president Aleksander Ceferin, who succeeded in getting all 55 member associations to support a World Cup boycott last Thursday, it will continue to push for change. “We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game,” the statement read. “We must identify those responsible and hold them to account.

“It is right that, in the coming days and weeks, Uefa will work with its associations and in close cooperation with other confederations to reflect on how this happened and devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again. That review should be thorough and fundamental. No option should be off the table. The current Fifa leadership has not only lost Uefa’s confidence, but also that of many other members of the football family.”

Uefa went on to criticise Infantino directly, saying he has failed to deliver on pledges he made to be transparent and accountable before he was first elected president in 2016.

The Football Association backed Uefa and, in a statement, said: “We fully support Uefa’s position. It is time for a full and robust review of Fifa’s leadership and governance to ensure that the global game is run transparently, for the benefit of all 211 member nations and with the long-term stewardship of football at its heart!”

Speaking in Manchester on Saturday, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, said it was the “right decision” for Fifa to back down. It comes after he previously called the plans “outrageous” and said bringing them forward made it clear that Infantino was “the wrong man to lead the organisation”.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Dutch FA said the withdrawal of Infantino’s proposal was not the end of the issue, adding: “The matter is ⁠not settled for the KNVB. The way this process has unfolded has led to a fundamental breach of trust in the leadership of Fifa president Gianni Infantino. The KNVB no longer has ⁠confidence in his leadership.”

Bernd Neuendorf, president of Germany’s DFB said: “The events surrounding this project initiated by Gianni Infantino must now be fully investigated. The Fifa president acted unilaterally, opaquely and ultimately irresponsibly in the best interests ⁠of football.”

Infantino had been expected to be re-elected unopposed for a third full term at next March’s Fifa Congress in Rabat, but while he is determined to stay on the 56-year-old could now face a challenger. While he has already secured more than 200 letters of support from member associations endorsing his re-election campaign they can be withdrawn, and the deadline for other candidates to announce an intention to stand is not until 18 November.

The Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi is favoured by many in Europe, but appears reluctant to stand and is also chair of powerful lobby group, European Football Clubs. Other potential candidates include Victor Montagliani, the Canadian who is the president of North American confederation Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation president Salman al-Khalifa, who lost narrowly to Infantino in the 2016 Fifa election.

Uefa’s statement used Infantino’s own words from his initial election campaign 10 years ago against him. “When Gianni Infantino asked for the trust and the votes of Fifa’s Member Associations to elect him as their president in 2016, he said, ‘Of course we have to be transparent. I have been this in the last 15 years of my life in Uefa. You will have to play a part every day in the life of Fifa,’ before telling the assembled stakeholders, ‘The money of Fifa is your money. It’s not the money of the Fifa president. It’s your money. You are the national associations, and the money of Fifa has to serve for the development of football and not for anything else.’ On both these promises, he has failed to deliver. The shabby, back room, opaque deal he hatched and tried to force through were anything but transparent. And with reserves standing at over $5bn, he has also failed to use associations’ money for the benefit of the game.”

Uefa also called for an immediate overhaul of Fifa’s system of financial distribution, the Fifa Forward programme in which all 211 member associations receive the same central payment from Fifa over each four-year cycle. Infantino had claimed that selling 20% of a new commercial company – Fifa Forward Enterprise – to private investors would enable them to increase the Fifa Forward payments from $8m over the next four-year cycle to $20m, as well as a one-off $20m bonus for signing up to the scheme.

Handing out millions of dollars to tiny nations has been widely criticised as a system of patronage designed to keep Infantino in office, while the $20m bonus on offer for associations who signed up by a deadline of 19 September was condemned.

“Uefa will begin work immediately with partners and stakeholders all over the world and right across the game to propose a new way of distributing resources through the existing Fifa Forward programme,” its statement continued. “We must start to use some of that money that is sat idle in Fifa’s bank account to deliver the kick start that the grassroots and the wider game need in each of the 211 countries of Fifa. But we don’t need to sell off the family silver to pay for it.

“This is a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story. The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in Fifa has only just begun.”

Concacaf later echoed Uefa’s call for a review of Fifa’s leadership in a similarly powerful statement.

“A proposal of this magnitude does not reach that stage by accident,” Concacaf said. “It is a symptom of leadership that has stopped putting football first. This recent unilateral and egregious act of poor governance and leadership follows a pattern of missteps and similar behaviour. A full review of this leadership must now take place.

“This concern is not Concacaf’s alone. It is shared across many confederations, Member Associations and those who serve and love the game. When people entrusted with protecting the game conclude they can no longer do so from within, the football family is entitled to ask how such a proposal was allowed to proceed, and who bears responsibility for it.

“Fifa is not a private enterprise. It is a body held in trust for the game and its members. Those appointed to serve it carry a fiduciary duty, a duty of service over power. Where that duty is not upheld, accountability cannot be optional.

“The unity demonstrated by our Member Associations this week has reaffirmed that when guided by courage, integrity, and sound governance the game will remain where it belongs: in the hands of football - not a single individual.”

There was one positive for Infantino, though, as the Qatar FA issued a statement supporting his leadership. Its president, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, said: “We welcome Fifa President Gianni Infantino’s decision to withdraw the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal in the interest of the global football community. While the proposal had merit, we applaud the wisdom behind prioritising unity among Member Associations.

“The Qatar Football Association fully supports President Infantino’s efforts to continue growing and strengthening the game globally.”