Gianni Infantino and FIFA ‘to put name’ to European Super League | OneFootball

The Guardian reports that a 2020 letter of intent set out plans for FIFA, led by Gianni Infantino, to attach its name to the aborted European Super League.

The document described close collaboration between the breakaway’s founders and FIFA before the governing body later stepped back. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez was the project’s chief promoter.

It proposed a partnership of at least 12 years and envisaged FIFA bypassing member federations to cut international windows, aligning the calendar with the Super League, and gaining special governance rights.

It also floated a broader club tournament akin to an expanded Club World Cup, again without wider consultation. FIFA was codenamed “WO1”, and the competition might have been branded “WO1 SL”, effectively a FIFA Super League.

FIFA would have enjoyed privileged participation and decision-making over format, calendar changes and solidarity funds, plus the right to appoint the competition’s chief executive.

As a letter of intent, a step that usually precedes a final contract, it suggested talks were advanced. An earlier conversation with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is said to have prompted Infantino to pull back, and he later said FIFA could only firmly disapprove the Super League.

The revelations come as Infantino pursues greater private-sector influence in global football, after a plan to sell World Cup stakes to investors caused an outcry and was then dropped.

Source: L'Équipe

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