Norway joins calls for Infantino to resign at FIFA
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Pressure on FIFA president Gianni Infantino to resign has escalated into a sustained global backlash, even though he abandoned the controversial deal that triggered it and FIFA enjoyed record World Cup revenues just a month earlier. The furore centres on Infantino's now-scrapped plan to sell a 21% stake in a new commercial arm, FIFA Forward Enterprise, to investors led by Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital for $4.2 billion (£3.3bn); he dropped the proposal on 31 July after UEFA branded it an attempt to sell "the soul" of football and threatened a boycott, joined in opposition by the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF.
Despite the U-turn, criticism has intensified rather than subsided. Norway's football federation president, Lise Klaveness, said trust in Infantino was "gone" with "no way back", while an open letter from UEFA's Aleksander Ceferin, the AFC's Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa and CONCACAF's Victor Montagliani accused him of "deception" and abandoning his duty; Montagliani is seen as a likely successor. Soccer figures including Luis Figo and Javier Tebas, plus Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, have also called for him to go, while separate allegations concerning a payment to a former UEFA colleague — which FIFA has dismissed as "categorically untrue" — have added further pressure. UEFA's boycott threat is expected to be tested at FIFA's Under-20 Women's World Cup in Poland, starting 5 September, with FIFA's 2026 World Cup having generated a record $15 billion in revenue.
- Norway becomes latest federation demanding Infantino's resignation from FIFA
- Scrapped $4.2bn Kushner-backed stake sale sparked lasting global backlash
- UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF chiefs jointly accuse Infantino of "deception"
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Norway joins calls for Infantino to resign at FIFA
Gianni Infantino has been president of FIFA, football's world governing body, since 2016. In recent weeks he has faced growing criticism over a plan to sell part of a new commercial arm of the organisation to outside investors for billions of dollars, a proposal he later dropped after opposition from within the sport.
Several national football federations, prominent former players, league officials and even a national government have since called on him to step down, arguing that trust in his leadership has been damaged. UEFA, the body that runs European football, has been particularly critical and has stopped taking part in some FIFA events in protest. FIFA itself has rejected the various allegations made against Infantino.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those calling for Infantino's resignation argue that a football governing body must hold itself to the standards it demands of the game: transparency, accountability and clean governance. They point to the abandoned $4.2 billion stake sale, which even UEFA branded an attempt to sell the sport's "soul", as evidence of a leadership prioritising commercial deal-making over the interests of national federations and fans. Coupled with fresh allegations about a payment to a former colleague, critics such as Klaveness, Figo, Tebas and Carney contend that trust has been eroded to the point where continued leadership is untenable, regardless of FIFA's record World Cup revenues, and that stepping down is the only way to restore confidence in the institution.
The case against
Infantino's defenders would argue that FIFA's finances tell their own story: a record $15 billion in World Cup revenue reflects strong stewardship of the game's commercial growth, funding that flows back into global football development. They would note that the stake sale was ultimately scrapped in response to stakeholder concerns, which they might frame as evidence the governance system works rather than that it has failed, and that FIFA has firmly denied the misconduct allegations as categorically untrue, urging that unproven claims should not be treated as fact. From this perspective, a small group of vocal critics pressing for resignation should not override the mandate given to the president through FIFA's normal democratic processes, particularly while investigations and denials remain unresolved.
Coverage
- The Guardian — Uefa, Concacaf and AFC push for Infantino to quit and discuss rival competitions
- The Hollywood Reporter — Can FIFA Boss Infantino Survive?