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FIFA President Gianni Infantino has called an emergency executive meeting in Morocco following intense criticism over the governing body’s abandoned commercial restructuring proposal.
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Senior FIFA figures, including Arsène Wenger, Secretary General Mattias Grafström, and Jordan FA President Prince Ali, publicly distanced themselves from the plan.
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The controversy has deepened pressure on Infantino’s leadership, as allegations over governance, unpaid prize money, and internal divisions continue to dominate global football.
August 5, (THEWILL) — FIFA President Gianni Infantino has convened an emergency meeting of football’s top leadership in Rabat, Morocco, as the world governing body battles growing criticism over its abandoned commercial restructuring proposal that has triggered one of the biggest governance crises of his presidency.
The meeting comes after days of backlash from football officials, member associations, and senior FIFA executives following the collapse of the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise project, which sought to reshape the organisation’s commercial and event operations before being withdrawn amid widespread opposition.
Infantino, who has been in Morocco over the past week, is expected to meet key FIFA officials on Wednesday in an attempt to calm tensions and restore confidence after the failed proposal exposed deep divisions within the organisation.
Among those openly distancing themselves from the project is FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, Arsène Wenger, who insisted he had no involvement in the initiative and only learned about it through media reports.
In a statement released through FIFA, the former Arsenal manager said abandoning the proposal was “necessary and beyond question,” adding that he firmly believes in “an independent FIFA that serves football with commitment, transparency and integrity.”
Wenger’s comments marked one of the strongest public criticisms from within FIFA’s leadership and came just days after he demanded greater transparency surrounding the project’s development.
FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström also acknowledged the turmoil in an internal message to staff, describing the past week as “a sad and reproachable series of events.”
Grafström urged employees to remain focused on serving football’s 211 member associations despite the political storm surrounding the governing body.
“We have all been thrown into the middle of a turmoil, which is difficult to comprehend and accept,” he wrote, while assuring staff they would be protected from the ongoing political fallout.
Pressure on Infantino intensified further after Jordan Football Association President Prince Ali accused FIFA of using unpaid prize money from the FIFA Arab Cup to pressure his federation into endorsing Infantino’s bid for another term as president.
Prince Ali claimed Jordan had been verbally told that backing Infantino’s re-election would help resolve outstanding financial issues.
“It is clear the problem really is with leadership,” Prince Ali said, describing the situation as “blackmail” and insisting Jordan would not change its position.
The Jordanian football chief, who unsuccessfully contested FIFA presidential elections in 2015 and 2016, also alleged that some Jordanian supporters were denied visas to attend the country’s historic first FIFA World Cup appearance in the United States.
The governance crisis has already claimed one high-profile casualty. Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, resigned over the proposal, calling it “a bad deal for football” that would have “mortgaged football’s future.”
The latest developments add to mounting scrutiny surrounding FIFA’s leadership ahead of Infantino’s expected bid for another presidential term.
Although the controversial proposal has now been permanently abandoned, the emergency meeting in Morocco is widely seen as a critical moment for FIFA as it seeks to rebuild trust, ease internal tensions, and restore confidence among its member associations following one of the most turbulent weeks in the organisation’s recent history.
