Gianni Infantino summons emergency FIFA meeting after commercial plan backlash

Gianni Infantino has summoned senior leaders of football's world governing body to a meeting in Morocco on Wednesday, after another day in which its president has faced fierce criticism of his scrapped plan to sell off Fifa's commercial and event operations.

Fifa's chief of global football development Arsene Wenger, secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, and Prince Ali, president of the Jordanian Football Association, all made clear their opposition to Infantino's Fifa Forward Enterprise.

Infantino, who has been in Morocco over the past week, called an executive meeting in Rabat as he attempts to find a solution to the controversy.

BBC Sport understands the meeting will feature Grafstrom and members of the Fifa management board including finance chief Thomas Peyer, legal chief Emilio Garcia Silvero, chief of staff Daniel O'Toole, chief of member associations Elkhan Mammadov and media relations director Bryan Swanson.

Wenger said in a statement issued through Fifa that scrapping the plan was "absolutely necessary and beyond question".

Grafstrom called the last week "a sad and reproachable series of events" in an internal email to Fifa staff.

Prince Ali, meanwhile, accused Fifa of creating a situation which "amounts to blackmail" over unpaid prize money and support for Infantino's re-election.

Wenger has been in a role which encompasses data analysis of the game, Fifa's online training and youth competitions, since 2019.

The former Arsenal boss previously supported Infantino's proposal to play the men's World Cup every two years.

A week after Infantino's investment plan was first released, the Frenchman issued a statement through Fifa in which he demanded "transparency and integrity" from the body.

"The recent events at Fifa deserve some clarity from my side," Wenger's statement read.

"I was not involved in this strategic plan and first became aware of the project through media reports.

"The decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question, because I firmly believe in an independent Fifa that serves our game with commitment, transparency, and integrity."

Wenger is one of 18 Fifa officials named in a document preservation letter Uefa sent to Fifa threatening legal action.

Carlos Cordeiro - Infantino's senior adviser on global strategy and governance - is the only Fifa official to resign over the scandal, saying the proposal was "a bad deal for football" and would "mortgage football's future".

Meanwhile, Prince Ali has accused Fifa of withholding prize money earned from being runners-up at the Fifa Arab Cup in December.

Before the World Cup final, Infantino said he had received more than 200 letters of support from the 211 member associations for his re-election - Jordan being one of the few not to back him.

Prince Ali, writing on X, claimed prize money had not been paid and Fifa tried to use this to gain support for Infantino.

"It is clear the problem really is with leadership," he wrote. "For months, Fifa has been refusing to help us - until it was verbally communicated to me during the World Cup that if I endorsed Infantino it would go a long way to helping our FA out.

"We pride ourselves in Jordan in upholding ethical values. We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now.

"But the whole situation amounts to blackmail and we refuse to give in to that."

Prince Ali has twice run for the Fifa presidency. In 2015, he lost out by 133 votes to 73 to Sepp Blatter - who resigned nine days later. In 2016, he finished third in the election in which Infantino become Fifa president.

He also alleged in the social media post that Jordan supporters with tickets had been denied visas to enter the United States this summer to watch their debut World Cup appearance.

Fifa has been approached for comment.