🚨 UEFA steps up and warns Infantino: you've lost our trust | OneFootball

UEFA has intensified its criticism of Gianni Infantino even after he backed down from his plan to sell stakes in tournaments such as the World Cup to an investment fund.

In a statement released this Saturday (1), the European body says the current FIFA leadership "has lost its confidence and that of a large part of the football family," despite the withdrawal of the proposal.

The European organization welcomed the unanimous rejection by its member associations, as well as by other federations and confederations, but now demands that those responsible within FIFA be identified and made to explain themselves.

In this process, in which "no option" is being ruled out — including potentially forcing Infantino’s resignation — the statement recalls Gianni Infantino’s own words in 2016.

At the time, he asked for the federations’ votes by promising full transparency and assuring them that FIFA’s money "belongs to you, not to the president."

According to UEFA, he "failed" on both commitments, and the deal he tried to push through was described outright as "amateurish, behind-the-scenes, and lacking transparency."

The body also adds financial criticism: even with more than $5 billion in its coffers, FIFA did not use that money for the benefit of football.

It now proposes a new way to redistribute those resources through the FIFA Forward program, without the need to "sell the family silver."

The statement concludes by calling the withdrawal of the plan a "victory for all of football," but warns that this is not the end of the story.

The proposal may be off the table, UEFA says, but the task of rebuilding trust in FIFA "is only just beginning."

Read Infantino’s full statement:

The FIFA Forward Enterprise project was intended to provide a foundation to further strengthen our FIFA Member Associations and our sport around the world, especially in the countries where support is most needed. And even more importantly, as we said from the outset, to do so only if the majority of FIFA Member Associations agreed and always subject to a consultation process with them, with the FIFA Council, the Confederations and other stakeholders.

After listening carefully to all views, it became clear that the project created divisions of such a nature that, regardless of the level of support, they were no longer consistent with the objective set out in the first place.

Our purpose always was — and always will be — to unite and improve.

As a result, this proposal will not go ahead.

Going forward, my intention is to bring all stakeholders together again in the coming days and weeks, in a spirit of shared interest in our game, with the aim of continuing to develop football everywhere, particularly in the countries that most need our support.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 Stu Forster - 2024 Getty Images