New Delhi: FIFA chief Gianni Infantino will hold a crisis meeting in Morocco on Wednesday after his plan to sell off FIFA’s commercial and event operations faced fierce criticism. Infantino was forced to withdraw his plan to create FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a company to run the commercial and operational aspects of FIFA’s tournaments, after it triggered widespread opposition from UEFA, Concacaf, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and several national associations, as well as criticism from within FIFA.
According to the Sky Sports report, Infantino has asked senior leaders of football’s world governing body to attend the meeting in Rabat.
FIFA’s chief of global football development Arsene Wenger has backed the decision to withdraw the controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, saying abandoning the project was ‘absolutely necessary and beyond question’ and reaffirming his belief in an independent and transparent world governing body.
In a statement, Wenger clarified that he had no involvement in the strategic proposal, which sought to create a commercial subsidiary to manage FIFA’s major competition rights, including the FIFA World Cup, while allowing private investors to acquire an equity stake. UEFA threatened to take legal action in response to the controversial proposal, and the Football Association of Wales has officially withdrawn its support for Infantino’s re-election bid as FIFA president. IANS
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