Infantino calls FIFA leadership meeting as pressure mounts over failed investment plan

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has called a meeting of the governing body's senior leadership in Morocco on Wednesday as pressure continues to mount over the collapse of his controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, according to media reports.

The meeting in Rabat comes days after FIFA withdrew plans to establish a new commercial subsidiary that would have opened part of the governing body's commercial operations to outside investment following strong opposition from football confederations and national associations.

According to BBC Sport, the meeting will bring together FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom and members of the management board, including Chief Financial Officer Thomas Peyer, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Emilio Garcia Silvero, Chief of Staff Daniel O'Toole, Chief Football Officer Elkhan Mammadov and Director of Media Relations Bryan Swanson.

The abandoned proposal has triggered growing criticism of FIFA's leadership.

UEFA said the current FIFA leadership had "lost" the confidence of much of the football community, while CONCACAF called for "a comprehensive reckoning" with Infantino's presidency, arguing the episode exposed serious failures in governance and transparency.

Adding to the pressure, FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger distanced himself from the proposal, saying he had no involvement in its development.

He described the decision to withdraw the proposal as "absolutely necessary and beyond question," adding that he believed football should be governed by an independent body operating with transparency and integrity.

Separately, Jordan Football Association President Prince Ali bin Al Hussein accused FIFA's leadership of attempting to link financial assistance to support for Infantino's re-election, allegations FIFA has not publicly addressed.

Writing on X, he said Jordan was still waiting for prize money earned by its players after finishing as runners-up at the FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar in December.

He alleged that during the World Cup, he was verbally told that endorsing Infantino would help the Jordanian federation resolve its outstanding issues with FIFA.

Prince Ali said Jordan had not supported Infantino previously and would not do so now, describing the situation as one that “amounts to blackmail.”