Uefa Says It Has Lost Confidence in Infantino as Fifa Fallout Grows

Uefa has said it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s leadership of Fifa as the row over the governing body’s abandoned investment plan continues.

Fifa announced on Saturday that it would no longer go ahead with plans to sell stakes in some of its competitions to private investors.

Uefa had strongly opposed the proposal and previously threatened to boycott World Cups if the plan was approved. Other football bodies also raised concerns about the idea.

Following Fifa’s decision to drop the plan, Uefa welcomed the move and called it “a victory for the whole game”.

However, European football’s governing body also accused Infantino of failing to keep promises he made when he was campaigning to become Fifa president in 2016.

“The current Fifa leadership has not only lost Uefa’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” Uefa said.

Uefa pointed to comments Infantino made during his 2016 campaign, when he said: “Of course we have to be transparent.”

He also said: “The money of Fifa is your money. It’s not the money of the Fifa president. You are the national associations and the money of Fifa has to serve for the development of football and not for anything else.”

Uefa said Infantino had failed to keep those promises.

“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,” the statement added.

The controversy has increased pressure on Infantino as he prepares to seek a fourth term as Fifa president at the organisation’s Congress in March.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who was the first leader of a major country to call for Infantino to resign, said Fifa had made “the right decision” by abandoning the plan.

Uefa Demands Answers

Uefa had been strongly critical of the investment proposal since reports about it first emerged.

In a lengthy statement released after Fifa confirmed the plan had been scrapped, Uefa said it “cannot keep going on” with “secret schemes of fast-track timescales cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game”.

Uefa called for those behind the proposal to be identified and held responsible.

It also said it would work with its member associations and other confederations to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

The organisation also wants to work with its partners to find a new way of distributing Fifa funds through the existing Fifa Forward programme.

Uefa further accused Infantino of “failing to use associations’ money for the benefit of the game”.

“We must start to use some of that money that is sat idle in Fifa’s bank account to deliver the kickstart that the grassroots and the wider game need,” Uefa said.

“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.”

Fifa has not yet responded to Uefa’s statement.

The Football Association also backed Uefa’s position, saying: “It is time for a full and robust review of Fifa’s leadership and governance to ensure that the global game is run transparently.”

Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness said it was “reassuring to be part of a strong and united Uefa throughout this process”.

“We must acknowledge the entire framework of international football cooperation was unnecessarily put at risk in pursuit of individual interests rather than the best interests of the game,” she said.

“Going forward, all our efforts must be directed towards improving governance.

“This cannot end as merely another power struggle conducted behind closed doors or through bilateral discussions.”