FIFA rejects 'concerted and ongoing effort' to unseat Gianni Infantino

FIFA on August 9, 2026 issued a statement rejecting what it called a “concerted and ongoing effort” to undermine president Gianni Infantino amid rising tensions with UEFA and renewed scrutiny over his time as UEFA general secretary. The governing body accused critics of relying on allegations and misinformation to challenge his leadership.

The response followed a Daily Telegraph report that questioned a severance payment made by UEFA to a female staff member who had worked with Infantino and made allegations about the nature of their relationship, which Infantino has strongly denied. UEFA confirmed that a departure payment had been made and said it was in accordance with the regulations that existed at the time, adding its rules around such payments have since been tightened. FIFA’s statement said “Speculation and insinuation should not be presented as fact, and repetition does not make an allegation true,” and warned against reporting it considered inaccurate or misleading.

The dispute has intensified alongside opposition to Infantino over his aborted FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, a commercial plan that would have created a new company to manage commercial and ticketing rights with a 21% stake potentially being sold to a private investment company. UEFA has said it has lost confidence in Infantino and has kept the threat of boycotting FIFA competitions under consideration. The European body also told FIFA that recent assurances about the FFE proposal have not gone far enough to guarantee the plan cannot return.

Infantino apologised for the handling of the FFE proposal after meeting members of FIFA’s management board in Morocco, according to the organisation’s account. FIFA defended its processes and pushed back against what it described as inaccurate reporting and unsupported claims, saying legitimate scrutiny was welcome but should not be used to distort facts or undermine established procedures.

The federation highlighted Infantino’s more than three decades in European and world football and said his tenure had brought changes aimed at widening access, resources and opportunities across the sport. FIFA reiterated that the president continues to have backing from many of its member associations and that any challenge to the presidency must proceed in line with its statutes and democratic processes. “The FIFA President was democratically elected by FIFA’s Member Associations and continues to serve with their mandate,” the statement said.

Support for Infantino was emphasised in the statement: CONMEBOL has supported his position, while the Confederation of African Football has unanimously backed him. Mexico’s football federation has broken with Concacaf to back the FIFA president, and “the 2022 FIFA World Cup winners and 2026 runners-up Argentina have also joined that list,” the governing body added. FIFA also made clear it would contest reporting it deems misleading, reiterating, “FIFA welcomes legitimate scrutiny.”

For now, FIFA said any attempt to change the presidency must follow its statutes and democratic procedures, and the organisation asserted its focus remains on its 211 member associations and its wider global football agenda as the political dispute continues.