Infantino backlash grows as UEFA, CONCACAF demand FIFA reckoning

Rebecca Smith, Bloomberg News on Aug 1, 2026

Published in Soccer

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The rapid unraveling of FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plan to privatize the football governing body’s commercial business has left his future in growing doubt, after two key regional associations demanded a reckoning for his leadership.

UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, issued a scathing rebuke of Infantino on Saturday, calling the FIFA proposal a “shabby, back room, opaque deal” that was “anything but transparent.” It came just hours after he dropped controversial plans to privatize the World Cup organizer’s commercial business, which included opening the nonprofit body to external investors for the first time.

“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” UEFA said in the statement.

CONCACAF, which represents North and Central American nations as well as the Caribbean, said in a separate statement Saturday that recent series of events was a symptom of a leadership that “stopped putting football first,” calling for accountability.

“This recent unilateral and egregious act of poor governance and leadership follows a pattern of missteps and similar behaviour,” said the body, which represents 2026 World Cup co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the U.S. “A comprehensive reckoning with this presidency is imperative.”

The statements add to a global wave of condemnations against the embattled FIFA chief and his proposal, which sought to establish a company to control FIFA’s commercial rights and then sell a stake to private investors. In addition to UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation’s public rejection of the plan, top clubs and even key executives at FIFA itself spoke out against the proposal.

After trying to weather the storm, Infantino conceded in a statement in the early hours of Saturday, saying: “Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place.”

Infantino has signaled he wants to fight on, saying he intends “to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game.” But he does so facing an increasingly hostile reception, internally and externally. FIFA’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour said on Friday that he and staff were deceived by the plan, while Carlos Cordeiro, a senior adviser to Infantino, announced that he was quitting in opposition.

There is a path for ousting Infantino, but it’s not a straightforward one for his opponents. To do so, one-fifth of FIFA’s 211 member nations would need to trigger a vote of no confidence while also having a credible alternative candidate.

The AFC stopped short of demanding leadership changes but said it will support any initiatives that will grow the sport globally and deliver benefits to all stakeholders.

“The AFC President expects that, going forward, any initiative that has the potential to impact global football will be presented and discussed with the Confederations, the FIFA Council, Member Associations (MAs) and other stakeholders in a timely, transparent and meaningful manner,” AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement dated Friday.

As things stand, none has emerged, though reports had suggested European football officials were hoping to convince Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the chairman of Qatar Sports Investments and president of Paris Saint-Germain, to consider the role. Another potential name is the AFC president Sheikh Salman, who lost out to Infantino in the 2016 FIFA election.

Qatar Football Association President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani said in a statement Saturday that it welcomed the withdrawal of the controversial plan but signaled continued support for the current FIFA leadership.

“The Qatar Football Association fully supports President Infantino’s efforts to continue growing and strengthening the game globally,” he said.

If 43 members did back a vote of no confidence, they could convene an emergency FIFA Congress. Another option would be for a rival to hold off and run as an anti-Infantino candidate if he makes a bid for a final term in March of next year.

On Saturday, UEFA said the withdrawal of Infantino’s plan marked “a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story. The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has only just begun.”

— With assistance from Stuart Biggs and Angela Cullen.

(A previous version of this story corrected the name of a Paris Saint-Germain executive.)