Gianni Infantino: Uefa says Fifa's backing of its president 'changes nothing' - BBC Sport

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# Uefa says boycott may still go ahead as FA withdraws Infantino support

![Gianni Infantino](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/819/cpsprodpb/0fcc/live/22b41d60-9195-11f1-9e9c-c71e84be4584.jpg)Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, 

Gianni Infantino apologised following a Fifa executive meeting in Morocco on Wednesday

By[Dan Roan](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/topics/cd61kendv7et), Sports editor and [Dale Johnson](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/topics/cglgnp4394wt), Football issues correspondent

- Published

  6 August 2026

Updated 1 hour ago

**European teams could still boycott competitions including the World Cup as Uefa says Fifa's defence of its president Gianni Infantino "changes nothing".**

The English FA has sent a letter withdrawing its support for Infantino in reaction to the plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

European governing body Uefa said in a statement its conditions had not been met, despite Infantino's plan being aborted.

"First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly," Uefa's statement said. "Assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.

"These conditions have not been met."

Uefa has already said it has lost confidence in Infantino, calling the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal a "shabby, back room, opaque deal".

- [Infantino sorry for errors but stays Fifa president](/sport/football/articles/clyq3el5gkqo)

  - Published

    1 day ago
- [If Infantino goes, who might replace him as Fifa president?](/sport/football/articles/cvgwvdvwn80o)

  - Published

    3 days ago

Infantino had offered all associations $40m (£30m) if they backed a proposal for private investment in its tournaments, including the men's and women's World Cups, through the FFE subsidiary.

World governing body Fifa said during Wednesday's meeting "mistakes" regarding FFE were "acknowledged", saying it was "not the intention" for the Fifa Council and members association to "feel excluded from the process and that the process should have been handled differently".

Uefa's statement in response added: "Uefa made it abundantly clear in its statement on Saturday that it has lost confidence in Gianni Infantino's presidency. That position holds.

"Yesterday's announcement that some people employed by the Fifa president (and whose careers depend on his favour) agree with him changes nothing."

Fifa has been approached for comment.

## Why Fifa's statement did not impress Uefa

Infantino arrived at Fifa's offices in Rabat, Morocco on Wednesday in now-familiar fashion, chauffeured to the building in a motorcade, sitting in the back of a Mercedes with blacked out windows.

Some questioned whether he would still be the Fifa president when he left.

Yet if anything, on the surface at least, Infantino appears emboldened.

This was not the 56-year-old being ordered to a hearing to explain his actions.

It was Infantino who summoned members of the Fifa management board to sit around the table with him, to talk through the events of the last week.

Secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, Infantino's right-hand man, had been critical in an internal memo to staff, calling the FFE proposals ["a sad and reproachable series of events"](/sport/football/articles/c2k7p4nxdy4o).

After the meeting finished it appeared to be water under the bridge, with Infantino and Grafstrom pictured sat next to each other and smiling at a Women's Africa Cup of Nations match between Malawi and Zambia.

If there were clear-the-air talks, they appear to have worked.

Other members of the Fifa management board to attend the meeting included finance chief Thomas Peyer, legal chief Emilio Garcia Silvero, chief of staff Daniel O'Toole, chief of member associations Elkhan Mammadov and media relations director Bryan Swanson.

BBC Sport has been told that Fifa's chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, was not invited.

Lamour strongly criticised Infantino's FFE plan, saying it was "the project of one person", and "the time has now come for football's political leaders to ask themselves the right questions and make the right decisions".

He added: "I lose my job, then so be it. At least I'll sleep well tonight."

Lamour has declined to comment to the BBC. Fifa has been approached for comment.

What concerns Uefa is that this meeting was a gathering of employees who are themselves part of the regime.

It is unknown if Infantino was forced to answer difficult questions