European soccer’s governing body UEFA declared it has lost confidence in FIFA president Gianni Infantino, piling pressure on the beleaguered sporting chief despite the organization dropping a hugely controversial plan to sell private stakes the World Cup and other top tournaments.
In a blistering statement released Saturday morning, UEFA welcomed the decision by FIFA to withdraw its plan but laid bare its unhappiness with Infantino.
“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,” the statement said.
“We must identify those responsible and hold them to account.”
Pressure has been mounting on Infantino to drop the scheme after UEFA - whose members the winner’s of both the men’s and women’s World Cup Spain - threatened to boycott soccer’s leading tournaments. A senior adviser to Infantino, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned on Friday, saying he opposed the plans “unequivocally.”
