Infantino retains Fifa presidency after Rabat management board meeting

Gianni Infantino will remain Fifa president after senior executives on the management board gave him their backing at a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday. The session came amid mounting criticism over his aborted attempt to sell off commercial and event operations to private investors.

Infantino, who was first elected Fifa president in 2016, summoned members of the management board to Fifa's Africa office in Rabat as the controversy grew. The move followed objections to the plan to transfer commercial and event operations to private investors. Much of the unrest came from within Fifa itself.

European football's governing body Uefa said at the weekend it has lost confidence in Infantino and criticised the proposal, describing the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal as a "shabby, back room, opaque deal".

Secretary general Mattias Grofstrom was among those expressing concern inside Fifa. In an internal memo sent to Fifa staff on Tuesday he wrote that the situation is "a sad and reproachable series of events" and he attended Wednesday's meeting in Rabat.

Infantino received the backing of senior executives at the management board meeting in Morocco, according to the organisation. The board convened at Fifa's Africa office in Rabat to address the criticism surrounding the proposed commercial arrangements.

In a statement following the meeting, Grofstrom and the management board "reaffirmed their full support" for Infantino as president. The statement was issued after the Rabat meeting.