European soccer’s governing body declared no confidence in FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Saturday, according to a leaked statement exclusively obtained by The Post, after the global organization axed a controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors.
UEFA leaders celebrated the death of the private equity deal, but they made clear their fight with Infantino is not over, demanding strict accountability for the secret negotiations that almost handed control of global soccer’s biggest events to outside buyers and effectively calling on him to step aside.
“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” UEFA said in the statement obtained by The Post.
It comes after The Post broke the exclusive news on Friday that the $20 billion spin-off of the global soccer body’s commercial assets had collapsed.
All 55 European member nations united to reject the massive financial project. They were joined by a global coalition of fans, leagues, clubs, and political leaders who stood against the sale. The intense pressure forced Infantino to withdraw the proposal.
However, UEFA signaled that stopping the deal was just the first step. The group promised a thorough review of how the proposal was created, stating that no option is off the table to prevent a repeat.
“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,” the statement said.
The failed plan aimed to spin off FIFA’s commercial operations and sell a large stake to private equity. Supporters of the deal promised huge cash payouts to smaller member nations.
UEFA fired back by pointing out that FIFA already sits on vast wealth. The governing body noted that FIFA currently holds more than $5 billion in its cash reserves.
“We must start to use some of that money that is sat idle in FIFA’s bank account to deliver the kick start that the grassroots and the wider game need in each of the 211 countries of FIFA,” UEFA stated. “But we don’t need to sell off the family silver to pay for it.”
European leaders also used Infantino’s own words against him. They recalled his 2016 election promises, where he pledged complete transparency and promised that FIFA’s money belonged to the national associations.
According to UEFA, the FIFA boss failed to deliver on both fronts.
“The shabby, back room, opaque deal he hatched and tried to force through were anything but transparent,” the European governing body added.
UEFA will now work with global partners to pitch a new way of sharing resources. They plan to use the existing FIFA Forward program to send more money to grassroots soccer without giving up control to investors.
While the immediate threat of a private takeover is dead, Infantino now faces massive political isolation as he clings to power.
“This is a victory for the whole game. But it must not be the end of the story,” UEFA concluded. “The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has only just begun.”
