Gianni Infantino has ‘lost the confidence’ of UEFA with ‘shabby’ World Cup plan

UEFA increased the heat on FIFA president Gianni Infantino by saying he has “lost the confidence” of the European governing body over a plan to sell stakes in a World Cup company to private investors.

Infantino announced overnight that the plan would not proceed after three confederations rejected it, with UEFA going further and pledging to boycott FIFA competitions until the proposal was scrapped.

While UEFA welcomed the decision to drop the proposal, it believes Infantino has lost the trust of the football world through his actions, describing the plan as a “shabby, back room, opaque deal”.

“We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account,” UEFA said.

“It is right that, in the coming days and weeks, UEFA will work with its associations and in close co-operation with other confederations to reflect on how this happened and devise a plan to make sure that it cannot occur again.

“That review should be thorough and fundamental. No option should be off the table. The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family.”

UEFA’s statement referenced an election speech from Infantino a decade ago, when he promised transparency and pledged that “the money of FIFA is your money”.

UEFA added: “On both these promises, he has failed to deliver. The shabby, back room, opaque deal he hatched and tried to force through was anything but transparent.

“And, with reserves standing at over five billion US dollars, he has also failed to use associations’ money for the benefit of the game.

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