FIFA's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, former Moroccan star Houcine Kharja, has hit back at Portuguese football legend Luis Figo after the latter tore into FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Figo had demanded Infantino's exit in a lengthy article recently published in Britain's"Daily Mail", accusing FIFA under the Swiss official of behaving like a gang.
Kharja, hitting back at the former Real Madrid and Barcelona star, told Moroccan platform "SOCCER212": "After all that Infantino has done for football legends, I find it despicable, truly despicable of Luis Figo to come out this way! And on top of that, the topics he touched on."
"He is the last person in the world who can give moral lessons about selfishness or money!" he added. "Because if we remember what he did, when he left Barcelona to go to Real Madrid.. how dare he speak about money, selfishness and dignity?!".
"The heart of the problem is that Infantino's policy deeply disturbs Europe," he continued. "Take the development of African football: it now offers players with dual nationality a genuine alternative to representing their country of origin. This is what Europe cannot bear. The Spanish or the Dutch feel bad when they see talents slipping away from them in favour of Morocco or other countries."
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He went on: "The English Premier League is sold to foreign capital, American, Saudi or Greek, but the moment American investors try to enter the capital of international competitions, they scream. That foreign capital buys their own clubs poses no moral problem for them, but when they touch shares in the global market, that is when it becomes a scandal. It is time they cleaned up in front of their own houses."
"Infantino's replacement"
On reports that FIFA are seeking a replacement for Infantino, Kharja said: "FIFA's critics and complicit media are trying to suggest the existence of an internal war, between the secretary-general and the president. In reality, the president enjoys unconditional support from all of FIFA."
"The media jump on any opportunity to stir up tensions and create controversy, but there is no tension at all," he added. "We are all, and will remain, united behind our president, whether it is secretary-general Mattias (Grafström) or the rest of the executive committee."
He signed off: "My wish is for president Čeferin (the UEFA president), whom I also respect, to sit at the same table with president Infantino to resolve their differences. The boycott option is clearly not the solution. They are two great leaders, and they will know how to find common ground for the good of football."