Arabic version: إنفانتينو يدعو لاجتماع تنفيذي للفيفا في المغرب

According to BBC News, Gianni Infantino has summoned senior leaders of football’s world governing body to an executive meeting in Rabat on Wednesday following fierce criticism of his plan to sell off Fifa’s commercial and event operations. Infantino, who has been in Morocco over the past week, is seeking a solution to the controversy around Fifa Forward Enterprise.

Fifa chief of global football development Arsene Wenger, secretary general Mattias Grafstrom and Jordanian Football Association president Prince Ali have all expressed opposition to the proposal. Wenger said the decision to withdraw the project was “absolutely necessary and beyond question”, adding that he had not been involved in the strategic plan and first learned of it through media reports.

Grafstrom told Fifa staff in an internal email that the previous week had been “a sad and reproachable series of events”, while saying the project had been permanently abandoned. He urged staff to remain focused on serving football and Fifa’s 211 member associations in compliance with the organisation’s statutes and regulations.

Prince Ali said Fifa had withheld prize money earned by Jordan as runners-up at the Fifa Arab Cup in December. Writing on X, he alleged that support for Infantino’s re-election had been raised as a condition for assistance to the Jordanian FA, describing the situation as “blackmail”. He also alleged that Jordan supporters with tickets were denied visas to enter the United States for the country’s debut World Cup appearance. Fifa has been approached for comment.

Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance, is the only Fifa official reported to have resigned over the proposal. He called it “a bad deal for football” that would “mortgage football’s future”. Wenger is also among 18 Fifa officials named in a document preservation letter from Uefa threatening legal action.