FIFA president Gianni Infantino has received the “full support” of senior directors on Wednesday but world football’s governing body apologised for the controversy of the now-shelved plan to open the World Cup to private investment.

Facing a barrage of criticism following the aborted plan, FIFA’s leadership acknowledged “errors”, while nonetheless backing under-fire Infantino following a crisis meeting in Morocco.

Infantino has come under increasing pressure, even from within his organisation, over his handling of the proposal, and calls for him to step down had grown since he abandoned it last Saturday.

In a statement Wednesday, FIFA’s leadership acknowledged “that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media”.

FIFA floated the plan, saying it could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for a new commercial subsidiary, called the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which it proposed would run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.

It said that, if approved, the project could provide each of FIFA’s 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027, and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $8 million to $20 million.

Instead of acting as a sweetener it produced a furious backlash, with European football’s governing body UEFA resorting on Thursday to the nuclear option of boycotting the sport’s jewel in the crown, the World Cup.

By Saturday, Infantino held his hands up and withdrew the plan.

“Our purpose has always been — and will always be — to unite and improve,” said Infantino.

After Wednesday’s meeting in Rabat, the FIFA Secretary General and members of the FIFA Management Board in attendance said in a statement they “reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations”.

“The meeting also addressed the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, where mistakes made were acknowledged,” the statement said.

“It was agreed that it was not the intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations to feel excluded from the process and that the process should have been handled differently.

“It was further acknowledged that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media.

“In a separate letter to the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations, an apology was made for these errors together with a commitment to ensure they do not happen again.”

‘Off the table’

One of those believed to be at the meeting was FIFA’s secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom, whose internal email to staff criticising the plan was leaked on Tuesday.

“A review will now be conducted, and a report will be presented to the FIFA Council at its next scheduled meeting,” the FIFA statement said.

“As previously communicated, the FFE proposal, which would have been subject to the approval of the FIFA Member Associations and the FIFA Council, is now off the table.”

Later Wednesday, Infantino — a 56-year-old Swiss lawyer who was in Morocco to celebrate last week’s Feast of the Enthronement — attended the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations match between Zambia and Malawi in Rabat.

The FIFA chief was spotted alongside the president of the Moroccan football federation at the entrance to Al Medina Stadium, an AFP photographer observed.

Morocco is to co-host the 2030 World Cup and Moroccan Football chief Fouzi Lekjaa is one of the few to have publicly supported Infantino since the humiliating climbdown.

Lekjaa last Saturday had praised his “wise” move to scrap the plan in the interests of “unity and cohesion”.

He reiterated his backing for Infantino for “all the initiatives aimed at the development of world football” during his 10 years in charge.

Infantino had been basking in the warm afterglow of a highly successful World Cup — the largest ever with 48 teams and co-hosted by three countries, Canada, Mexico and the US.

His wish to serve a fourth and final term looked likely to be rubber-stamped in Rabat next March — no other candidate had come forward to challenge him.

However, Tuesday last week all that faded.

UEFA termed the proposal to privatise the World Cup a “shabby, back room, opaque deal” hatched by Infantino.

“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” UEFA said in a statement.

North and Central American football’s governing body CONCACAF went further still and called for “a comprehensive reckoning with this presidency” while slamming Infantino’s “poor governance and leadership”.

On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose country co-hosted the 2026 World Cup, said he no longer had confidence in Infantino’s ability to lead FIFA. (France 24/ AFP)

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US President Donald Trump wants FIFA President Gianni Infantino to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations, The Post has learned.

Infantino, 56, grew close to Trump through organizing this year’s World Cup, with the Swiss-born soccer administrator bending over backward to charm and include Trump, even giving him FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize in December.

Trump believes that Infantino “is respected by everyone around the world, and recognizes he has a special ability to bring people together,” a source close to the president told The Post.

The next secretary-general will be elected this year to replace the retiring António Guterres of Portugal, who will step down at the end of December. 

To secure the position, Infantino would need to win the endorsement of the 15-member Security Council — where the five permanent members hold vetoes — followed by confirmation by the General Assembly. 

It’s unclear if Infantino wants the job and to what extent Trump has discussed the topic with him.

But Trump senses a clear opening among a field that one insider described as seven “lame” candidates.

The best-known contenders include Chile’s socialist former president Michelle Bachelet, who could face US resistance, and Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, the current director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who could face concerns from the UK over the disputed Falkland Islands.

Trump’s concept would upend the anticipated selection of a candidate from Latin America or the Caribbean — a region last repped by secretary-general Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru between 1982 and 1991.

But multiple sources say that soft geographic rotation would not necessarily block Infantino and that it’s possible he could pick up multiple nominations in addition to Trump’s.

Paolo Zampolli, the Italian-American businessman and diplomat serving as Trump’s special envoy for global partnerships, told The Post that “only President Trump could have such a genius idea.”

Zampolli said Infantino “would do a great job” and is “liked by everybody” — describing him as potentially bringing fresh energy to the massive bureaucracy and using sports to build new bridges and inspire the world’s young and poor populations.

“There is some similarity” between the roles of FIFA president and UN secretary-general, said Zampolli, a personal friend of Infantino’s and a former ambassador to the UN for the small island nation of Dominica.

“At the United Nations, you have to deal with 193 member states. In FIFA, there are over 200 members [and] Gianni’s great record shows he knows how to manage.”

Zampolli spent time with Infantino at last weekend’s World Cup final in New Jersey but said they did not discuss the concept and was surprised to learn of it from The Post.

Trump has fumed about what he views as the UN’s inactivity in mediating major world conflicts and last year created a new US-led Board of Peace that drew speculation he was setting up a rival organization — as he brokered peace deals, including between Israel and Hamas — though Trump denied it and said he hopes the UN will take a more active role.

Since reentering the White House last year, Trump has slashed US contributions to the UN and withdrawn from many of its sub-organizations, including the World Health Organization, UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council.

Installing Infantino could improve Trump’s relationship with the UN.

However, if the president is successful, it would come with a steep pay cut for Infantino, who earns about $6 million a year at FIFA.

The secretary-general’s recently reported compensation amounted to about $418,000. 

Infantino has declared his candidacy for re-election as FIFA president. That selection process occurs next March.

He did not immediately respond to The Post’s emailed request for comment about the UN opening.

Although he’s lined up endorsements for reelection from nearly all of FIFA’s 211 member associations, he faces blowback over Trump’s intervention on behalf of the US team in the World Cup to overturn a one-game suspension of Folarin Balogun ahead of the match with Belgium.

Balogun’s reinstatement outraged European nations, but the American loss to Belgium blunted the fallout. Still, disgraced ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter, whose tenure was marred by a bribery scandal in awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, is among those clamoring for Infantino’s ouster. (New York Post)

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Gianni Infantino confirmed that FIFA will discuss expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams after the 2026 tournament, saying every nation should have the chance to dream of playing at football’s biggest event.

The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico is the first to feature 48 teams, having expanded from 32, and a further increase could be in the cards.

“This is certainly an issue that will be looked at and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” FIFA’s president told Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport when asked about the possibility of a 64-team tournament. “When you organize a World Cup, it’s important that you organize it for the whole world. It’s not just Europe and South America, but the entire world, effectively. Every nation should be able to dream of taking part in the World Cup.

“We can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it’s getting higher and higher everywhere in the world. If you don’t give smaller countries the chance to participate in the World Cup, they also lose the incentive to keep improving.”

The prospect of a 64-team World Cup first emerged in March 2025, when South American confederation CONMEBOL proposed expanding the 2030 tournament, which will mark the competition’s centenary.

In September, Infantino met with CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez, the presidents of the Argentine and Uruguayan football associations, and the presidents of Paraguay and Uruguay in New York to discuss the proposal.

At the time, Domínguez said, “We believe in a historic 2030 World Cup. We want to call for unity, creativity and believing big. Because when football is shared by everyone, the celebration is truly global.”

In April 2025, Concacaf president Victor Montagliani told ESPN: “I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues and players.”

If approved, a 64-team World Cup would feature 128 matches, double the number played under the 32-team format used from 1998 to 2022. This year’s tournament will feature 104 matches.

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has previously described the proposal as “a bad idea.” (ESPN)

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