The outcry against FIFA president Gianni Infantino keeps growing louder and louder.
Norway’s soccer federation officially called on him to resign amid the controversy surrounding Infantino’s failed attempt at privatizing the World Cup.
“We decided that there is no trust in Infantino now,” the federation’s president, Lise Klaveness, told The Guardian. “We have been worried consistently and there has been one more step in worrying direction every year, every part of the year. The trust is now gone for us, there is no way back for Infantino.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been widely criticized for his failed proposal to privatize the World Cup. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Infantino’s widely criticized proposal would have allowed private investors to buy shares in the World Cup through a commercial subsidiary called the FIFA Forward Enterprise.
The plan proposed raising $4.2 billion from investors — led by Thrive Capital, which is run by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared is president Trump’s son-in-law and special peace envoy — by selling stakes amounting to 20 percent in FFE, based on an equity valuation of $20 billion.
UEFA — European soccer’s governing body — voted to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions if Infantino went ahead with his plan and declared that it had lost confidence in Infantino.
Gianni Infantino (R.) and President Trump. REUTERS
Concacaf — the governing body for North and Central American and Caribbean soccer — and the Asian Football Confederation had also rejected the proposal.
FIFA has since apologized and withdrew the plan last Saturday, though Infantino is still in hot water.
“There are always lessons to be learned, and FIFA will continue to improve its processes in light of this experience,” FIFA said in a statement. “In this instance, however, it is important to stress that, although mistakes were made, everything that was done was done in full compliance with the FIFA regulatory framework.”
FIFA also announced on Wednesday that Infantino and other leadership met in Morocco and that “FIFA Secretary General and members of the FIFA Management Board in attendance reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations.”
Infantino is up for re-election in March.
