Fifa criticises campaign to oust president Infantino

Fifa has strongly criticized what it calls a "concerted and ongoing effort" to undermine the organization and its president, Gianni Infantino. This comes after a report in the Daily Telegraph claimed that Infantino's alleged lover was given a severance payment by Uefa after an affair while he was the general secretary of Uefa. The Fifa spokesperson denied these allegations, stating that they are "categorically untrue."

Infantino himself has been under increasing pressure from Uefa and European football associations over his aborted proposal for the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), which would have created a new company to manage commercial and ticketing rights. Uefa has expressed its loss of confidence in Infantino, and Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness has called for his resignation.

Fifa maintains that Infantino was democratically elected by the organization's member associations and continues to serve with their mandate. The organization warns that those without support from the member associations should not seek to remove Infantino through allegations, insinuations, or misinformation rather than through established democratic processes.

The Mexican Football Federation has come out in support of Infantino, as has South America's governing body Conmebol. African football's governing body, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has also unanimously backed Infantino. Despite the criticism, Infantino is backed unanimously by the 54 nations of CAF.