FIFA President Infantino Fights for Survival at Rabat Crisis Summit

FIFA President Gianni Infantino convened a crisis meeting in Rabat, Morocco on Wednesday — ironically the same city where he had planned a future ceremonial event to mark his re-election bid. The gathering came as his hold on power looked increasingly precarious.

Allies abandon ship

FIFA Secretary-General Mattias Grafström, previously regarded as a close Infantino confidant, publicly distanced himself from a controversial investment deal, saying he had not been informed about the plan and first learned of it through the press. FIFA Director Arsene Wenger issued a similar statement, saying he was «not involved in this plan.»

Extortion allegations from Jordan

Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, president of the Jordanian Football Association, alleged that pressure on member federations to back Infantino in next year's re-election amounts to «blackmail,» saying his federation had «not supported him before and will not do so now.»

Missing payments and widening coalition against Infantino

Four representatives of World Cup host cities told The Athletic anonymously that senior FIFA officials had verbally promised them each one million dollars in so-called «legacy» funds — but nothing was committed in writing, and no money has arrived. Greece has officially withdrawn its support; reports indicate several other nations are considering the same move.

"I could write 10,000 words about FIFA's problems. But the solution requires only three: Infantino must go." — Luís Figo, former world footballer, writing in the Daily Mail

The crisis stems from a failed secretive deal in which Infantino sought to sell shares in the FIFA World Cup and other tournaments to private investors — a plan that collapsed and triggered a wave of resignations and withdrawals of support. As the summit opened, Infantino showed no sign of resigning, instead posting nostalgic World Cup photos and letters of support on Instagram.