UEFA has called on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to resign following the collapse of his controversial proposal to sell a stake in the FIFA World Cup.
Infantino had reportedly sought to sell a £3.1 billion stake in the tournament to a consortium of private investors led by Josh Kushner, a relative of U.S. President Donald Trump. The plan was abandoned on Friday after attracting widespread criticism.
In a statement issued on Saturday, UEFA said it had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership and criticised what it described as a lack of transparency in the handling of the proposal.
“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,” the statement read in part.
“It is right that, in the coming days and weeks, UEFA will work with its associations and in close cooperation 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.”
Under FIFA’s statutes, member associations can initiate a vote of no confidence against the FIFA president. UEFA, which has 55 member associations, would require the support of at least 46 FIFA members to trigger the process. Infantino is seeking a fourth term in next year’s FIFA presidential election.
