FIFA president Gianni Infantino has summoned senior officials to an emergency meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, in the Moroccan capital Rabat. The aim is to contain a crisis that now threatens his future, with pressure mounting since he was forced to abandon a controversial plan to set up a commercial company to run the rights to FIFA's tournaments.
According to Britain's "Sky Sports" network, the meeting comes as Infantino faces unprecedented criticism. Last week he ditched the "FIFA Forward Enterprise" (FFE) project, which would have sold 20% of the new company to private-sector investors, after continental and national federations rejected it outright and threatened to boycott FIFA tournaments.
The crisis escalated again on Tuesday, when a string of prominent figures inside and outside FIFA went public and cranked up the pressure on the Swiss.
Arsène Wenger delivered the most striking intervention. He confirmed he had played no part in preparing the project, called the decision to withdraw it "absolutely necessary and not open to discussion", and stressed his belief in an independent FIFA that operates on transparency and integrity.
FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström sent his own message to staff, describing the past few days as "an unfortunate and unacceptable series of events". He thanked FIFA employees for enduring a political crisis they had no hand in, and insisted the institution would press on with its mission despite the turmoil.
Those statements land just days after Infantino's senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned, branding the "FIFA Forward Enterprise" project "a bad deal for football".
Then came a heavier blow. Jordan Football Association president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein accused FIFA directly of "blackmail", claiming the governing body had tied help on several matters, including financial dues and problems faced by Jordanian fans during the World Cup, to a public declaration of support for Infantino in the coming elections.
Prince Ali said the Jordanian federation is still waiting for the prize money owed for finishing runners-up in the 2025 Arab Cup. He also pointed to the tax burdens the federation carries because the national team's delegation is based in the United States, and to the trouble fans had in getting travel visas. "The real problem lies in the leadership," he said, adding that Jordan "will not give its support to Infantino".
UEFA are keeping up their own offensive against the FIFA president. They have announced they are studying legal action over the "FIFA Forward Enterprise" project and demanded that all documents and correspondence relating to it be preserved for investigation.
Confidence in Infantino has collapsed across Europe. Several federations, England and Wales among them, have withdrawn their official support for his re-election, with more expected to follow.
Another blow came from an unlikely source. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter called for the election of the first woman to lead the organisation, backing Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness to succeed Infantino.
Blatter said Klaveness is one of the few figures to have held on to their independent positions in world football, and argued the time had come for a woman to run FIFA. Norway is among a small group of federations that have refused to declare support for Infantino's re-election in the March 2027 vote.
Asia looms as the decisive battleground in any race for the FIFA presidency. Europe and the North, Central American and Caribbean federations are expected to back any move to end Infantino's term, while a number of federations in Africa, South America and Oceania continue to stand behind him.