Politics & Governance
FIFA's Gianni Infantino loses Mark Carney's confidence
Gianni Infantino faced new pressure on Wednesday after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he no longer had confidence in the FIFA president's ability to lead world football's governing body.
“Certainly I don't have confidence in Mr Infantino, after this point, given what transpired,” Carney told reporters in Toronto when asked about Infantino and his now-shelved plan to open the World Cup up to private investment.
Carney said Infantino's reported failure to discuss the plan with FIFA's senior management team “should be fatal” to his tenure. “This is not how you run any business, a small business, let alone something that is a global responsibility like football,” Carney said.
Infantino held emergency talks earlier Wednesday with FIFA directors in Morocco, the 2030 World Cup host, as he sought to contain the crisis.
The proposal involved creating a new commercial subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise, to run events including the World Cup. The earlier published story said FIFA had floated a plan to raise up to $4.2 billion for the subsidiary, based on a $20 billion valuation.
Infantino later abandoned the plan after broad opposition, including from UEFA. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, appointed by Infantino in 2019 as FIFA's chief of global football development, said withdrawing the project was “absolutely necessary and beyond question” and said he had learned about it through the media.
FIFA secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom described the episode in an internal email to FIFA staff seen by AFP as “a sad and reproachable series of events”. UEFA lawyer Andrew Levander sent Infantino a letter, seen by AFP, saying the European governing body was actively considering legal action, arbitration or regulatory complaints linked to the plan.
The pressure has also reached Infantino's bid for another term as FIFA president. Wales, Finland, Sweden and Serbia have withdrawn letters of support for his candidature. Jordanian FA president Prince Ali bin Hussein accused FIFA of “blackmail”, saying he was told verbally that endorsing Infantino for re-election “could go a long way to helping” Jordan's federation.
Canada co-hosted the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and the United States. That tournament was the largest World Cup, with 48 teams.
Update
Gianni Infantino held emergency talks with FIFA directors in Morocco earlier Wednesday, according to the AFP item.
Mark Carney said Infantino's reported failure to discuss the plan with FIFA senior management should be fatal to his tenure.
Source note: AFP news report published on 5 August 2026 at 20:00:20 UTC.
Update
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he no longer had confidence in Gianni Infantino's ability to lead FIFA.
Carney linked his loss of confidence to Infantino's now-shelved plan to open the World Cup to private investment.
Source note: AFP news report published on 5 August 2026 at 19:33:34 UTC.
Update
The Athletic reported that 11 United States World Cup host cities are seeking legacy payments of $1 million each that it said FIFA repeatedly promised.
Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino's special adviser, resigned on Friday.
The source adds that some support for Infantino remained, including from Morocco, Kuwait, Qatar and Lebanon.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 August 2026 at 21:21:37 UTC.
Update
Arsene Wenger said withdrawing the private-investment project was necessary and beyond question.
An internal email seen by AFP showed FIFA secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom distancing himself from the handling of the plan.
UEFA's lawyers gave notice that UEFA was considering legal action, arbitration or regulatory complaints linked to the plan.
AFP reported that Wales, Finland, Sweden and Serbia had withdrawn letters of support for Infantino.
Jordanian FA president Prince Ali bin Hussein accused FIFA of blackmail linked to support for Infantino's re-election.
Infantino reportedly summoned FIFA staff to a crisis meeting in Rabat.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 August 2026 at 20:49:26 UTC.
Update
Infantino had offered FIFA's 211 member associations $40 million each if they backed proposals for private investment in tournaments including the men's and women's World Cups.
AFP reported that the English FA is understood to have written to FIFA saying it no longer supports Infantino.
The English FA said Saturday it fully supported UEFA's position.
CONCACAF called for a comprehensive reckoning with Infantino's leadership, while the Asian Football Confederation called for transparency.
Source note: AFP news report published on 3 August 2026 at 09:27:56 UTC.
Update
The Football Association of Wales said Infantino had lost its confidence to remain at the head of world football.
Infantino announced last week that he was shelving the plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.
The FIFA election is scheduled to be held in Rabat in March 2027.
Source note: AFP news report published on 3 August 2026 at 08:54:28 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The supplied material attributes some details of FIFA's internal handling of the plan to reports, internal emails or letters seen by AFP rather than independent confirmation.
Source
AFP news report published on .