Infantino calls executive meeting as plan criticism grows

On August 4, 2026, Gianni Infantino called a meeting in Rabat, facing opposition from Arsène Wenger, Mattias Grafström and Prince Ali to the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan. The decision came after a day marked by intense criticism of the project to sell FIFA's commercial and events operations.

Infantino calls executive meeting in Rabat

The FIFA president, who spent last week in Morocco, scheduled an executive gathering in Rabat in an attempt to find a solution to the controversy surrounding the FIFA Forward Enterprise.

Arsène Wenger's criticism of the plan

Arsène Wenger, FIFA's global development chief, said that withdrawing the plan was “absolutely necessary and indisputable”. In a statement released by the organization, the former Arsenal manager declared that he had not been involved in the strategy and that abandoning the project was essential to preserve an independent FIFA, committed to transparency and integrity.

Mattias Grafström describes the week as sad

Mattias Grafström, FIFA's secretary-general, described the past week as “sad and reprehensible”. In an internal email to staff, the Swede wrote that the events were “difficult to understand and accept”, but that they should not obscure the institution's mission to serve football and its 211 member associations.

Prince Ali accuses FIFA of extortion

Prince Ali, president of the Jordan Football Association, denounced FIFA for creating a situation that “amounts to extortion” related to unpaid prizes and support for Infantino's re-election. In a post on the social network X, the Jordanian official claimed that FIFA used the withholding of Arab Cup money as a bargaining chip to secure his vote, and that the entity's leadership was failing by refusing assistance to his country for months.

Internal consequences and resignation

Carlos Cordeiro, Infantino's senior adviser on global strategy, was the only FIFA member to resign amid the scandal, describing the proposal as “a bad deal for football”. In addition, Wenger is among the 18 officials mentioned in a document-preservation letter sent by UEFA to FIFA, which threatened legal action.

The plan, initially disclosed a week earlier, generated a series of reactions that culminated in the executive meeting called by Infantino, who seeks to stabilise the organisation amid internal divergences.

With information from BBC Sport.