Top FIFA officials Wenger and Grafstrom distance themselves from Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plan
GENEVA: Two senior FIFA executives — coaching great Arsene Wenger and CEO-like secretary general Mattias Grafstrom — distanced themselves Tuesday from their boss Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private investors. Wenger said in a statement he knew nothing of the $20 billion plan and that it was “absolutely necessary” to drop the proposal, and Grafstrom sent an email to all FIFA staff — seen by The Associated Press — calling the last week a “sad and reproachable series of events.” He also said it created “turmoil which is difficult to comprehend and accept.” Neither directly named Infantino or offered support for the now-embattled president. The comments by Wenger and Grafstrom had echoes of the direct criticism from FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, who said Friday that staff had been “deceived” by Infantino’s private equity plan, which provoked a furor in global football. Lamour called it the “project of one person” and said FIFA staff “deserve better than contempt and intimidation.” The three executives are respected and trusted figures among the 211 FIFA member federations who now hold sway over Infantino’s grip on a presidency that looked unshakeable after the World Cup ended barely two weeks ago. UEFA legal threat to FIFA Wenger, Grafstrom and Lamour also were named in a letter from UEFA’s lawyers to Infantino among 18 executives whose data and communications should be retained as potential evidence. “You do not need to worry,” Grafstrom wrote Tuesday to the hundreds of FIFA staff based mostly in Zurich and Coral Gables, Florida.
