FIFA President Gianni InfantinoGETTY IMAGES
Groups representing the world’s top football leagues and clubs are "pushing back" against FIFA President Gianni Infantino over plans to introduce new competitions, "accusing him of ignoring some of the game’s biggest stakeholders to push through major changes without proper consultation," according to Tariq Panja of the N.Y. TIMES. In a series of "strongly worded letters" presented at Friday’s meeting of FIFA’s governing council, the clubs and leagues accused Infantino of "backsliding on his promise to lead through consensus," and of putting player health in jeopardy with plans for a new expanded int'l club tournament and a global women’s league for national teams. The letters "bring to public view for the first time growing concerns about Infantino’s management style." Critics, including some of FIFA’s "most senior officials, have privately fumed about the speed and manner of decisions taking place under Infantino," who assumed the FIFA presidency in '16. Infantino said Friday that it was "normal for people to have differing views and to debate them and to defend their territory." He said, "As FIFA president and FIFA we have to try and take care of the whole world. Obviously, sometimes it can get tense. Other times it can get loud. Other times it can be friendly." At "the heart of the most recent complaints is the plan to begin a lucrative new Club World Cup competition," which has the potential to be "worth hundreds of millions of dollars but would require 24 clubs to play in a summer tournament akin to the quadrennial World Cup." It would replace the "largely inconsequential Confederations Cup." EPL Exec Chair Richard Scudamore said, "To be presented with FIFA’s 'solution' as a fait accompli and claim this to be consultation defies all definitions of best practice and good governance." Separate letters were written to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin by officials representing clubs and leagues on that continent. The clubs and leagues "also have taken issue with Infantino’s proposal for the women’s game," with European Club Association Chair Andrea Agnelli arguing it "not only risks the club-led development of the sport in Europe but also the health of players" who most likely will face "long and tiring travel" on top of "an already heavy international match calendar." Under the proposed format devised by FIFA, the world’s top 16 teams will be divided into four groups and play in mini-tournaments to determine a champion. The top teams "would only play in an annual November window." Four smaller regional leagues also would play matches in a spring window. But the larger European nations argued to the FIFA Council that the new women’s league "could clash with existing broadcast contracts" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/16).
