Shocking documents have revealed that Gianni Infantino, president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), was planning to partner with the European Super League project.
The news broke in April 2021 about the 20-team league proposed to bring radical change to club football.
It would have created a new competition featuring 15 permanent members, including co-founders Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico, Inter Milan, Milan and Juventus, plus five qualifying teams.
The violent, furious backlash to the plans from excluded clubs, football's governing bodies and fans around the world killed the Super League off. The project collapsed.
Infantino himself told a UEFA congress at the time that FIFA condemned the proposed new league.
He said: "At FIFA, we can only strongly reject the creation of a Super League that is reserved for a certain category, that represents a breakaway from the existing institutions, from the leagues, from the associations, from UEFA and from FIFA, and that is outside the system."
Yet according to British newspaper "The Guardian", shocking files now claim he was an integral part of the very same project.
A term sheet dated October 2020, usually a prelude to a final, ratified contract, points to the new league being named after FIFA's trademark, the report claims.
The Guardian also indicates that FIFA was prepared to sideline its member associations in pushing plans to change the international match windows, and that it bypassed those associations over the Club World Cup proposals.
That Club World Cup was to be held annually and linked directly to the new Super League.
According to the newspaper, the damning documents refer to FIFA as "WO1", a term used for high-ranking officers in the British Army.
The report explains that the term sheet states the Super League is "open to discussing naming the competition WO1 SL".
It also stated that FIFA "would obtain a preferred ownership stake in the Super League", guaranteeing it the ability to make decisions on format and schedule changes as well as appointing a chief executive and distributing funds.
When "The Sun" contacted FIFA for comment, the federation sent links to articles published in 2021, including Infantino's comments before the UEFA congress and a statement signed by the FIFA president and the presidents of the six continental confederations who refuse to recognise any unaffiliated rival competitions.
This strange revelation comes a week after the announcement of Infantino's plans to auction off stakes in the World Cup.
Fury from the continental confederations, national football associations and even many within FIFA forced a swift and embarrassing climbdown for the Swiss federation president. He is now clinging desperately to power after a humiliating week.