Fifa criticises campaign to oust president Infantino

Fifa has vehemently criticized what the organization describes as a coordinated and persistent campaign to undermine its reputation and the leadership of Gianni Infantino. This criticism comes in response to a report by the Daily Telegraph alleging that Infantino's alleged romantic interest was given a severance payment by Uefa following an affair while he was Uefa's general secretary.

Infantino's representative has firmly denied these allegations, stating they are entirely untrue. FIFA has taken a stance against unsubstantiated claims and false assertions, emphasizing that such speculation should not be treated as fact. The controversy surrounding Infantino's aborted Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal has exacerbated tensions with Uefa and other European football associations.

Uefa has expressed a loss of confidence in Infantino, while Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness has called for his resignation. The Fifa president, democratically elected by Member Associations, continues to serve with their mandate. FIFA maintains that any opposition lacking support from the member associations should not resort to allegations, insinuations, or misinformation to achieve what they cannot through established democratic processes.

Opposition to Infantino is largely coming from within Europe; however, the Mexican Football Federation has broken ranks with its regional governing body Concacaf to support Infantino, echoing a statement from Conmebol - South America's governing body - that they will reject any attempt to remove Infantino without a vote involving all 211 Fifa member countries.

Infantino also enjoys unanimous backing from the 54 nations of the Confederation of African Football (Caf). Infantino addressed members of the Fifa management board in Rabat, Morocco, where FIFA issued a statement on his behalf and that of secretary general Mattias Grafstrom. The statement apologized for the FFE proposal but vowed not to tolerate any attacks on FIFA's integrity, good governance, and due process.

FIFA welcomes legitimate scrutiny but will challenge inaccurate or misleading reporting directly and vigorously.