Foster’s grave fears for FIFA as Infantino wins over Africa
Craig Foster fears Gianni Infantino might survive as FIFA president after going into damage control and gaining unanimous backing from the Confederation of African Football on Friday (AEST).
The embattled Infantino apologised after his secretive plan to sell off World Cup commercial rights was exposed by The Times’ Martyn Ziegler.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino. AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Former Socceroos captain Foster has been Australia’s leading Infantino critic and told Nine’s Today that his apology had seen him claw back some ground.
“Sadly, it has helped him with the (FIFA) staff,” Stan Sport analyst Foster said.
“And I say sadly because we’ve had already one resignation of a senior advisor (Carlos Cordeiro), we’ve had one of the senior staff members (Kevin Lamour) come out and essentially say, ‘look, this is an absolute disgrace, I can’t be quiet’ and debunked some of Infantino’s lies in the public domain.
“And yet, they’ve been able to go into a meeting, and now come out with a statement to say, ‘oh, everything’s fine, and we just made a few mistakes.’
“And what that says is that it’s not just about Infantino, it’s about the organisation itself.
“It’s clearly got an organisational culture that hasn’t got an eye on ethics or integrity.”
Infantino received a lifeline from Africa, but the support from one of the largest voting blocs in football won’t end scrutiny on how the sport is governed globally.
The endorsement from CAF, whose 54 member associations account for more than a quarter of FIFA’s members, handed Infantino a much-needed boost as he seeks a fourth term in office.
However, it does little to quell wider unrest within the global governing body, where opposition has intensified following his failed attempt to open the World Cup to private equity investment.
The announcement was at odds with the near-global condemnation of Infantino, as UEFA reaffirmed its commitment to boycotting the World Cup the same day, while more countries withdrew support for his candidacy.
“This abuse of the presidential office is completely improper and the organisation itself is not willing to acknowledge that, which means it simply needs reform from the outside,” Foster said.
UEFA holds position
Craig Foster speaks. Getty
A day after FIFA’s leadership gathered in Rabat to publicly reaffirm support for Infantino, world football’s governing body apologised to its 211 members for mistakes around the abandoned proposal to sell a slice of the World Cup’s commercial future.
FIFA also pledged to review the processes that led to the controversy which sparked the fiercest revolt of Infantino’s tenure after national federations complained they had been sidelined.
Foster said FIFA needed a complete overhaul.
“It’s only 15 years ago when (former president) Sepp Blatter and that whole era, when in fact the FBI had to step in, whereas now, Infantino came in, and he sold to the stakeholders, sold to the federations around the world, sold to the world: ‘look, I am the reform candidate, I’m the integrity candidate,’ and here 10 years later we’re in this situation.
“So what’s clear is it’s not just about Blatter, it’s not just about Infantino.
“It’s actually about the system that rises them to power. It’s about the organisation itself, not willing to hold their own president or their own processes accountable, and therefore we need people outside FIFA - I don’t think it needs the FBI this time, perhaps - but what we need is the stakeholders, the players and the fans, and the member federations around the world to say, ‘OK, enough is enough, we need real change’.”
Rodri of Spain is presented the FIFA World Cup. Getty Images
European football’s governing body UEFA stressed that its key conditions for a return to FIFA competitions had not been met.
“First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again,” UEFA said in a statement.
“These conditions have not been met.
“In addition, UEFA made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency.
“That position holds.”
UEFA added that FIFA employees “whose careers depend on his favour” agreeing with Infantino did not alter its position.
UEFA did not say if teams would boycott FIFA’s next event - the women’s under-20 World Cup in Poland next month.
FIFA to review processes
A review will be conducted before a report is presented to the council at its next meeting and the conciliatory tone marked a stark contrast with the increasingly public criticism that forced FIFA into retreat.
However, FIFA can no longer dodge questions raised by confederations, leagues and national associations over how major strategic decisions are made.
South America’s CONMEBOL expressed concerns over the “repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue,” stressing the importance of institutional reforms FIFA introduced more than a decade ago to promote transparency.
‘Profound abuse of presidential power’
Players’ union FIFPRO said Infantino’s proposal “negotiated behind closed doors” was not just a governance failure but a “profound abuse of presidential power”.
However, FIFA insists that all actions taken over the commercial rights proposal complied with its regulations and stressed that mistakes related to process and communication rather than breaches of governance rules.
“If true, that is not a defence. It is an indictment of FIFA’s current governance framework,” FIFPRO said.
Foster called for more.
“This is why you need really strong external stakeholders and the players haven’t done enough. They’ve got a representative body around the world (FIFPRO).
FIFA president Gianni Infantino is attempting to cling to power after his controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup. AP
“It’s just made a big statement this morning, I’m pleased to see that.
“Statements aren’t enough, we need action, we need strategy, we need plans as to how the world of football is going to hold the governing body accountable.”
FIFA attempted to present a united front, warning critics that, with the project now abandoned, it would “no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process.”
A New York Times report said that top FIFA directors were blindsided by the private equity proposal a day before the World Cup final in New York last month and were pressured into approving it on little notice, underscoring the secrecy surrounding the plan.
Political fallout
For Infantino, the immediate priority has been containing the political fallout ahead of March’s presidential election in Morocco, when he will seek a fourth term through 2031.
Thursday’s (AEST) meeting delivered that objective, with FIFA’s management board and secretary general Mattias Grafstrom publicly endorsing the president.
But Jordan’s FA President Prince Ali bin Hussein said he would not endorse Infantino despite finally receiving prize money outstanding for their participation in the 2025 Arab Cup.
England also withdrew its support for Infantino, as did the Albanian FA.
Infantino continues to enjoy strong support from many smaller associations, particularly across Africa and Asia, where FIFA development funding remains central to national programmes, and he still appears well-placed politically with no viable challenger emerging ahead of the presidential election.
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