Enough is enough – top players issue warning amid pressure on Gianni Infantino

High-profile current and former footballers – including a member of a FIFA player panel – say “change is necessary” in the organisation’s leadership as pressure continues to mount on its president Gianni Infantino.

Mikael Silvestre, the former Manchester United defender and part of FIFA’s Players’ Voice Panel, issued a statement calling for change at the top of FIFA on his X account on Monday and wrote above it: “Enough is enough!”

The same statement was also shared on social media by other big-name players, including England’s double European champion Lucy Bronze and France’s 1998 World Cup-winning midfielder Emmanuel Petit.

Infantino is facing calls to quit from his UEFA counterpart Aleksander Ceferin in the wake of a hugely controversial plan to sell stakes in a company to run the World Cup to private investors.

Players have now begun adding their voice to the debate. The widely-shared statement said players “share the exact same concerns as the millions of fans around the world”.

It added: “Like them, we have watched the game we love drift away from its core values under FIFA’s current leadership.

“For too long we’ve seen major decisions taken without players being consulted or considered, and without any regard for the fans who sustain the sport.

“Change is necessary. Power has blurred the current leadership’s ability to distinguish between its own interests and what is best for football.”

Silvestre’s interjection is significant given it effectively comes from within the FIFA fold, with the Players’ Voice Panel a 16-strong group formed by the global governing body to monitor and advise on initiatives to tackle racism.

The statement continued: “Recent events have made silence impossible. Enough is enough.

“We call on