Are Infantino's days numbered? Federations demand his resignation!

An unprecedented scandal has erupted at the highest levels of world football. Three leading regional football confederations—UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North and Central America), and AFC (Asia)—have issued a joint statement delivering a scathing critique of FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Details: The reason behind this united front was Infantino's controversial initiative to sell a stake in the World Cup's commercial rights to investors (the FIFA Forward Enterprise project). In their joint statement, the heads of UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC accused the FIFA president of deception, unilateral decision-making, and eroding trust within the football community. According to these regional leaders, Infantino put his personal ambitions above the interests of world football and committed fundamental breaches of governance principles.

The confederation leadership stressed that governing football is a duty to serve the football family, not a mandate to cling to power. Although FIFA had earlier announced it was abandoning the plan amid threats of tournament boycotts from Europe and the Americas, the confederations declared that their trust in Infantino had been completely lost.

Nevertheless, the Mexican Football Federation broke ranks with CONCACAF and voiced support for Infantino, joining Argentina, Qatar, Paraguay, Morocco, and Egypt in backing his continued presidency at FIFA.

Infantino also faced allegations this week: UEFA reportedly made a "severance payment" to a female employee with whom he is alleged to have had a relationship during his tenure as general secretary of the European football body. UEFA confirmed the payment was made, but FIFA dismissed the accusation as "categorically untrue."

It is worth recalling that the election for FIFA's next president is scheduled for March 2027, but Infantino still has every chance to retain his position.

Read also: Another scandal erupts at FIFA! Has a smear campaign against Gianni Infantino begun?