Top FIFA executives, including secretary general Mattias Grafström, have reaffirmed their support for embattled president Gianni Infantino, the soccer governing body said in a news release Wednesday, Aug. 5.
The group was convened after Infantino's plan to sell shares of the World Cup to private investors was shelved after backlash from both soccer stakeholders, fans and political groups around the world. UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, threatened a boycott of FIFA. Concacaf, the governing body for the sport in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and the Asian Football Confederation both announced they, too, rejected the scheme.
That threw Infantino's continuity into question, and members of the FIFA Management Board
were summoned to Morocco for meetings about the organization's future.
Those meetings have resulted in Infantino retaining the support of the organization's decision-makers, according to a statement put out by FIFA.
"Following a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, the FIFA Secretary General and members of the FIFA Management Board in attendance reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations," the statement read. "In turn, the FIFA President reiterated his full support for the FIFA Secretary General and the FIFA Administration for their necessary and outstanding work in the delivery of his vision."
The statement comes just a day after a letter from Grafström to FIFA staff in which he wrote that "individuals come and go" became public. He also called Infantino's plan to sell shares in the World Cup to private investors a “sad and reproachable series of events” in the letter.
Yet, Grafström was back by Infantino's side both figuratively and literally Wednesday, Aug. 5, sitting next to the president at a Women's African Cup of Nations match
Infantino also says he offered an apology to Member Associations which felt blindsided by the private investment proposal.
"The meeting also addressed the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, where mistakes made were acknowledged," the statement read. "It was agreed that it was not the intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations to feel excluded from the process and that the process should have been handled differently. It was further acknowledged that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media.
"In a separate letter to the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations, an apology was made for these errors together with a commitment to ensure they do not happen again. A review will now be conducted, and a report will be presented to the FIFA Council at its next scheduled meeting."
The president looks hopeful that the withdrawal of his proposal and the reaffirmation of support from leaders will be enough for him to put the incident behind him and continue on as the organization's executive.
"As previously communicated, the FFE proposal, which would have been subject to the approval of the FIFA Member Associations and the FIFA Council, is now off the table. With the project withdrawn, it was agreed that FIFA will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation."
Yet, despite the backing from top administrators, the door still might be open for a challenger to contest Infantino's post. The position looked secure as recently as two weeks ago, when Infantino reportedly counted more than 200 Member Associations as supporters, but a challenger could emerge before the March 2027 elections.
In addition to a number of soccer administrators and federations announcing that they were withdrawing support from Infantino, global politicians have made statements bringing his continuity into question.
That includes Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said Infantino's plan "should be fatal,” despite working successfully with the sports administrator during the 2026 World Cup, which saw 13 matches hosted on Canadian soil.
Carney's countryman Victor Montagliani, the president of Concacaf, and Jordan FA president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, who has ran for FIFA president in the past, have been rumored as potential candidates, but no one has yet declared they will contest the election.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FIFA executives back embattled president Gianni Infantino after FFE fiasco
