Fifa denounces 'concerted' campaign to oust president Gianni Infantino
Fifa said in a statement on Saturday, 8 August 2026, that it faced a "concerted and ongoing effort" to "undermine" the organisation and its president Gianni Infantino after a Daily Telegraph report; the governing body also rejected what it called "unsubstantiated assertions and demonstrably false claims" and warned that "speculation and insinuation should not be presented as fact."
The Telegraph article claimed Infantino’s alleged lover was given a severance payment by Uefa after an affair while the recipient was Uefa’s general secretary. Gianni Infantino apologised for the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal, a plan that would have created a new company to manage commercial and ticketing rights with 21% sold to a private investment company. The FFE proposal has been widely described in reports as aborted amid mounting scrutiny.
Pressure on Infantino has increased from Uefa and several European football associations since the FFE plan surfaced. Uefa has said it has lost confidence in Infantino, while Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness called on the Swiss-Italian to resign.
Fifa's statement said: "The Fifa President was democratically elected by Fifa's Member Associations and continues to serve with their mandate," and added: "It is increasingly evident that there is a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine Fifa and its president. Those who do not have the support of Fifa's member associations should not seek to achieve through allegation, insinuation or misinformation what they cannot achieve through Fifa's established democratic processes."
Opposition to Infantino is concentrated in Europe but has not been unanimous globally: the Mexican Football Federation broke ranks with its regional body Concacaf to back Infantino, and that stance echoed a Conmebol statement saying it would reject any attempt to remove Infantino without a vote involving all 211 Fifa member countries. Infantino is also unanimously backed by the 54 nations of the Confederation of African Football.
European football's governing body has said its threat to boycott Fifa events remains on the table, adding that certain conditions have not been met.
