By Emmanuel Okogba with agency report
Former Portugal international Luis Figo has called on Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA president, accusing him of failing to uphold the standards of football’s governing body.
In a statement, Figo said he was joining others within the football community in urging Infantino to step down from office.
“Today I join others from across our game and call for Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA President,” he said.
The former Real Madrid and Barcelona star alleged that Infantino had “debased the office that he promised to elevate” and accused him of acting against the interests of the sport.
Figo also claimed that Infantino had lost the confidence of senior FIFA staff, advisers and many people involved in football.
“He has lost the support of his senior staff, his closest advisers, the vast majority of people who devote their lives to this sport and even, it would seem, the FIFA Peace Prize winner,” Figo said.
He argued that while it was “too late to save his dignity,” it was “not too late to save football,” concluding his remarks with a call for the FIFA president to resign immediately.
Infantino is fighting to save his job after a fierce backlash against his plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup.
The 56-year-old wanted to sell a 20 per cent stake in the World Cup to private equity investors through his FIFA Forward Enterprise.
The plan sparked a cascade of criticism for Infantino and has been rejected by three continental confederations, forcing the FIFA chief to ditch his divisive idea.
In a bid to win back support after his divisive plot, Infantino held emergency talks with other FIFA directors in Morocco on Wednesday, a source told AFP.
Infantino had defended his proposal by claiming it would increase revenue for all FIFA member nations.
But his attempt to rush through the deal without consulting Football Associations across the world, along with concerns about potentially playing an increased World Cup every two years instead of every four, sparked a furious backlash.
Several senior FIFA officials — including former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger — have lambasted Infantino’s behaviour.
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