FIFA admits mistakes but Infantino remains president

Gianni Infantino will remain as FIFA president after receiving the backing of senior executives in a meeting in Morocco, despite the governing body admitting that mistakes were made.

The meeting, held Wednesday in Rabat, was called in response to mounting criticism over Infantino’s aborted attempt to sell stakes in FIFA competitions to private investors through a new subsidiary, the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE).

UEFA had already voiced its loss of confidence in Infantino, calling the proposal a “shabby, back‑room, opaque deal”. Within FIFA, Secretary‑General Mattias Grofström labelled the situation “a sad and reproachable series of events” in an internal memo.

In a statement after the meeting, the council and member associations reaffirmed their full support for Infantino as president. FIFA also acknowledged that the FFE proposal was mishandled, admitting that the council and associations had felt excluded and that the process should have been different.

The organisation said it had written to members to apologise and commit to a review, adding that it would no longer tolerate attacks on its integrity and would take measures to protect its name and reputation.

Earlier in the week, FIFA denied a claim that Infantino had promised Morocco a 2030 World Cup final if the country supported the proposal. The claim was called a false and misleading story, with the decision on the final’s location to be made “in due course”.