FIFA President Infantino Calls Emergency Meeting Amid Controversy Over Business Plan

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has convened an emergency meeting of senior officials in Morocco following the withdrawal of his controversial business plan. Carlos Cordero, FIFA’s Global Strategy and Governance Advisor, has resigned from his position amid the fallout. Kathmandu, 20 Shrawan — After retracting the contentious ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’ plan, which sought to transfer FIFA’s commercial and competition management rights to a private entity and sparked widespread criticism, Infantino has called an urgent session of top officials to resolve the dispute.

According to sources, the meeting will include FIFA Secretary General Matthias Grafström, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Peyer, Head of Legal Emilio García Silvero, Head of Member Associations Elkhan Mammadov, Communications Director Brian Swanson, along with other senior officials. FIFA’s Chief Global Football Development Officer, and former Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger, has endorsed the decision to withdraw the plan, calling it necessary and appropriate. Wenger clarified that he was not involved in the plan in any capacity and learned of it solely through media reports. He emphasized that FIFA must serve football based on transparency, integrity, and independence.

Meanwhile, Secretary General Grafström described the recent events as ‘regrettable and reprehensible’ in an internal email. Prince Ali, President of the Jordan Football Association, accused the threats to withhold prize money and pressure to support Infantino’s re-election as ‘not blackmail but a deliberate effort.’ Amid the controversy, FIFA’s Global Strategy and Governance Advisor Carlos Cordero resigned, citing the plan as a ‘bad deal for football’ that puts the sport’s future at risk. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has also issued legal warnings to FIFA demanding the safeguarding of documents related to the plan.