For those who wondered if Gianni Infantino could be shamed into a rapid resignation, we now have the obvious answer.Infantino is fighting on and on late Wednesday evening, he appeared to score a victory for the first time since his clandestine plot to sell off stakes in FIFA’s business came to light. Infantino summoned FIFA’s management board to Morocco, where he had opened a FIFA Africa office in late 2024.Morocco, a co-host of the 2030 men’s World Cup, is one of the few places on earth that has felt like home turf for Infantino in recent days. The Royal Moroccan Football Federation was one of the first associations out of the traps to support Infantino after he was forced to abandon his scheme on Friday night.FIFA’s office in Rabat is even based inside the Mohammed VI Football Complex, the premises of the Moroccan federation, while its president Fouzi Lekjaa is also a member of the FIFA Council.Not all members of FIFA’s management board turned up. Arsene Wenger, chief of global football development, and Jill Ellis, chief football officer, were both absent, while Kevin Lamour, the chief operating officer who on Friday accused Infantino of “deceiving” staff with “the project of one person”, was not present either. Wenger had issued a statement on Tuesday, saying it was “necessary” to ditch the plan, but he does not appear to be taking matters further.Those on the board who did make it to Rabat did not admonish Infantino but instead signed off an extraordinary show of faith. A statement said those “in attendance reaffirmed their full support” for the FIFA president.Remarkably, this included the FIFA general secretary Mattias Grafstrom, who only on Tuesday wrote to all staff at FIFA to condemn a “sad and reproachable series of events — which were thankfully concluded with the FIFA Forward Enterprise project permanently abandoned.”Grafstrom, according to multiple sources who did not wish to be named so as to protect relationships, was not involved in drawing up the plans and his relationship with Infantino has been damaged by a series of decisions over the past year, including over the extent of Infantino’s fawning over U.S. president Donald Trump and expansion of both the Club World Cup and World Cup.Mattias Grafstrom attending the opening match of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa on June 11. (Rodrigo Oropeza / AFP via Getty Images)In his Tuesday memo, he even wrote that individuals “come and go”, which many presumed to mean he may be prepared to put the interests of FIFA ahead of Infantino’s future. European plotters had started to think they may have a breakable ally right at the heart of Infantino’s empire.Yet on Wednesday, FIFA’s second-in-command Grafstrom capitulated spectacularly to Infantino when he co-signed a letter sent to all 211 FIFA member associations.The letter acknowledged that “processes, communications and interactions” between Infantino, Grafstrom and the management board could be improved, while acknowledging “mistakes” had been made. “We sincerely apologise for these errors and commit to them not happening again,” wrote Infantino and Grafstrom, before saying a “necessary review” would be made and presented at the next FIFA Council meeting.Given Grafstrom did not design the plans, it is unclear as to why he felt the need to apologise, other than to provide support for Infantino. The pair even posed for a choreographed thumbs-up smiling photograph to be posted on Instagram.