The President of the European Leagues Claudius Schäfer stated that Gianni Infantino has no future at FIFA, emphasizing the need to reform the governing body of world football and the responsibility of its leader.
In an interview with The Athletic, published on Wednesday, Schäfer noted that the European Leagues organization, which represents 53 professional men’s and women’s football leagues, is deeply concerned about Infantino’s leadership and questions his ability to remain in the position of president. “Here in Switzerland, we have been closely monitoring FIFA, and it seems that the president’s influence appears to be increasing each year. Important decisions are made without meaningful consultations with the stakeholders they will affect,” he added.
Conflict and pressure on Infantino
Schäfer’s comments came amid a sharp conflict between football’s governing bodies, caused by a proposal from FIFA, which was later abandoned, to sell part of the commercial rights to the World Cup.
Infantino is under pressure from three confederations calling for his resignation: the European UEFA, the Asian AFC, and CONCACAF, which represents North and Central America and the Caribbean. Regional football bodies have also discussed the possibility of voting on a motion of no confidence in the FIFA leader.
Legal issues and scandals
Concerns were raised about the first‑ever FIFA Peace Award, awarded to US President Donald Trump in December, as well as the overturning of the disqualification of American striker Folarin Balogun during this year’s World Cup after a call from the Republican leader.
“FIFA is an association operating under Swiss law, and in this association, there are rules. The president and board members must perform their duties with due diligence. This is a legal matter,” said Schäfer.
“If such a decision [regarding the Peace Award] is made without even informing the council, then, in my opinion, this is a violation of the law. And then, during the World Cup, we all know about the situation involving the red card,” he added.
Schäfer called this situation a “real scandal” and stated that he cannot recall instances of such political interference in sports matters. “Such actions call into question the integrity of the game. That is why there is no future for Infantino at FIFA. It cannot be,” he declared.
Infantino will run for a fourth term next year and is likely to face serious opposition. Meanwhile, Schäfer stated that it is more important to change the role of the FIFA president than to simply replace the person in this position.
“For us, implementing these reforms is the most important task, and they can only happen under a different president,” he added.
Source: Al Jazeera
