World Cup-winner Petit joins call for change in FIFA leadership
LAUSANNE: Several ex-footballers, including Premier League winners Emmanuel Petit and Mikael Silvestre, have called for “change” in FIFA’s leadership following the failed plan to open the World Cup to private investors.
Several former footballers, including Premier League winners Emmanuel Petit and Mikael Silvestre, are advocating for a change in FIFA's leadership following the aborted attempt to open the World Cup to private investment. French footballers Silvestre, Petit and Olivier Dacourt expressed their concerns on social media, stating that power has obscured the current leadership's ability to separate their own interests from the sport's best interests.
The ex-players did not directly name FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who received support from former Barcelona star Samuel Eto'o earlier in the day, but they criticized his leadership. They shared the same concerns as millions of supporters worldwide, observing the sport drifting away from its core values under FIFA's current leadership.
They did not directly address the behind-the-scenes negotiations involving Infantino to place World Cup revenues in a commercial entity open to private investment, a plan that was abandoned this summer due to opposition from European, North American and Asian confederations. Petit, who won the World Cup with France in 1998, and Silvestre, a five-time Premier League winner with Manchester United, are calling for change.
Despite under-fire Infantino's determination to seek re-election at FIFA's upcoming presidential election in Rabat in March, the former players remain resolute in their demand for reform.
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