Next FIFA chief must be 'custodian of the sport', says UEFA's McAllister
UEFA Vice-President Laura McAllister. Pic: Anthony Devlin/Getty
UEFA Vice-President Laura McAllister said any future FIFA president should be a "custodian of the sport" capable of uniting world football, as pressure grows on embattled current chief Gianni Infantino following his aborted World Cup investment plan.
After meeting in Rabat on Wednesday, FIFA's leadership reaffirmed support for Infantino, apologised to its 211 member associations for mistakes surrounding the World Cup investment plan and promised a review of the processes that triggered a fierce backlash from national federations.
FIFA's attempt to draw a line under the biggest crisis of Infantino's presidency, however, is unlikely to end scrutiny of the governing body's leadership and governance ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
McAllister said finding a credible challenger to Infantino would be difficult because any candidate would need support from across football's global membership, not just Europe.
"It's not as easy as people might think. The right candidate has to also have the right level of support," McAllister said in an interview with Deutsche Welle (DW).
"There's so much politics around this. There's such an imperative to get a candidate who could unite the whole world of football, not just Europe in this case."
The former Wales women's captain called for sweeping governance reforms to modernise football's leadership structures.
"It requires a really fundamental change in the culture of how the leadership of football operates, I believe, and that we really drive forward the modernisation of the game to make sure that football isn't run by fiefdoms or by individuals, that it's democratically run," she said.
McAllister's comments came amid mounting scrutiny of Infantino after he withdrew plans to create a commercial subsidiary and sell a stake in future World Cup revenues to outside investors following fierce opposition from within the game.
McAllister told Reuters on Tuesday that any transition in FIFA leadership would need to be accompanied by a return to what she sees as the game's core values, with football governed in the interests of the sport rather than political or commercial interests.
"The game is there for everybody, from grassroots to elite," she said in an interview. "It doesn't belong to any one of those constituents. It's as much for girls as it is for boys. It should reach every corner of the world, in the poorest countries as well as the globally successful ones."
FIFA apologised to its members for mistakes made over its abandoned proposal to sell commercial rights to the World Cup as the body's leadership reaffirmed its support for President Gianni Infantino in Morocco on Wednesday.
The proposal to sell a 20% stake in a new commercial rights entity to private investors in a deal that would have raised about $4.2 billion provoked a fierce backlash and was withdrawn last Friday.
Infantino bore the brunt of the criticism, including some from inside FIFA, which raised questions over his re-election as president next March.
"Following a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, the FIFA Secretary General and members of the FIFA management board in attendance reaffirmed their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino," the statement said.
"In turn, the FIFA President reiterated his full support for the FIFA Secretary General and the FIFA administration for their necessary and outstanding work in the delivery of his vision."
Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom sent an internal memo to staff this week lamenting the "sad and reproachable series of events" that led to the project being "permanently abandoned", two sources told Reuters.
Grafstrom's letter, which did not mention Infantino by name, noted that "individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go" but FIFA's work would continue.
Wednesday's FIFA statement noted that Infantino, president since 2016, was "the only official elected by the 211 FIFA member associations".
FIFA said a separate letter had been sent to FIFA Council members and member associations apologising for the errors and promising a review.
"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," the statement added.
With the proposal withdrawn, FIFA said it would "no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process".
Infantino still has plenty of allies, however, particularly in parts of the world where impoverished football associations rely on FIFA's largesse to operate.
Leading African football administrators have sent messages of support as Infantino looks to the continent's 54 members for backing. The African confederation (CAF) has yet to take a stance.
The executive committee of the smallest and least wealthy regional confederation, Oceania, will meet next Wednesday to discuss their approach.
Qatar, which hosted the 2022 World Cup, Kuwait, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines have all declared their loyalty to Infantino despite the AFC's critical stance.
Under FIFA rules, the vote of San Marino, whose men's team are ranked 211th and last in the world rankings, counts as much as that of World Cup winners like Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Spain.
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