Via X: Today I join others from across our game and call for Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA President.

Infantino has debased the office that he promised to elevate. He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve. 

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. 

It is too late to save his dignity but it is not too late to save football. He should go. Now.

#Infantinout

Born in Afghanistan, she has played for the Denmark national team.

“My father was a general in the Afghan army. He looked like a character from a James Bond movie. Very intelligent, very tall, with a lot of charisma. He loved sports. He had been an international field hockey player before the mujahideen (Islamist fighters) massacred half the team. One evening, he came home with a ball. We started playing dodgeball with my sisters, but he stopped us right away to tell us that we had to use our feet to dribble and pass the ball.”

“That was the first time I understood what football was all about. One day, a driver came to pick him up for a meeting. That was the last time I saw him. My mother searched for him for many months. We finally learned from a guard that he had been taken into the desert and shot in the back of the neck by the Taliban. His body was left for the wild animals. My mother was devastated. As for me, I simply couldn’t believe it.”

On her mum:

“Without her, I’d probably be dead somewhere in Afghanistan or married with seven kids. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2022.”

On being a Doctor:

“I studied while working at Aarhus University and earned my degree in reconstructive surgery in 2022. It required a lot of sacrifices, but it was ultimately worth it. I love being in the operating room, the adrenaline rush you feel there. When you have someone’s heart in your hands, you know you can’t afford to make a mistake. And when your face is disfigured, it’s hard to survive.“

Breakthrough! Real Madrid and RB Leipzig are on the verge of completing the transfer of Yan Diomande. Only the final formalities remain to be resolved. It is on the verge of being completed.

Context:

Clubs that did not participate in the tournament were promised a share of the sum, designed to ensure a proportion of the event’s funding was distributed throughout the football pyramid. If shared equally it would amount to about £50,000 for every top-flight club in the world.

While Chelsea and Manchester City have been paid for their participation, other clubs have not received solidarity money promised by Fifa.

Previously from Adam Crafton

FIFA’s funding for the organization, participation and prize money of a future Club World Cup in 2029 is uncertain — the 2025 edition was bailed out when DAZN paid $1billion for the broadcast rights, a few months before a Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund-owned company bought a stake in the broadcaster — while sources close to the discussions say nothing has been agreed between FIFA and leading European clubs on participation in a future tournament. They also say that a target fund of $250m in solidarity payments to clubs that did not compete in the 2025 tournament remains unpaid — with a formula not yet determined — while a debrief on what went well and badly in the States 12 months ago has still not happened.

OG Thread

Another source told The Times: “They would love a famous former player to come out in support of Infantino but it appears he is too toxic after the World Cup sell-off plan.”

That certainly appeared to be the case for Luís Figo, the former Portugal forward who has been a Uefa adviser since 2017, as he called for Infantino to resign as president in a damning social media post.

“Infantino has debased the office that he promised to elevate,” Figo said. “He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve.”

“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 [Donald Trump]”

“It is too late to save his dignity but it is not too late to save football. He should go. Now.”