UEFA delegates exit FIFA congress in protest to Infantino's behaviour

G3079

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Today's FIFA congress in Asunción, Paraguay, turned out a bit less than optimal.

First, FIFA president Gianni Infantino arrived way too late. His private jet had only just entered Brazilian airspace and was still far out from the destination airport when the event was supposed to kick off, causing a delay of about three hours for the hundreds of attendees. Infantino had been accompanying US president Trump on his trip to Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He apologized for his lateness, citing "small problem with his flight" as the reason for his delay, but argued that his presence at Trump's side was necessary in the interest of the organisation and that it was for the best of the organisation and all of them.

While this certainly earned him some criticism already, things really culminated when the entire delegation of UEFA did not return to the event after a scheduled coffee break - at the time the congress was slated to end originally, before the delay. They declared:
A UEFA statement read: “The last minute changes to the timings of the FIFA Congress are deeply regrettable. The FIFA Congress is one of the most important meetings in world football, where all the 211 nations in the world’s game gather to discuss issues that affect the sport right across the world.
Our hosts, the Paraguay FA and our partners at CONMEBOL, had gone to considerable effort to accommodate so many delegates and we thank them for their hospitality.
But to have the timetable changed at the last minute for what appears to be simply to accommodate private political interests, does the game no service and appears to put its interests second.
We are all in post to serve football; from the streets to the podium, and UEFA members of the FIFA Council felt the need on this occasion to make a point that the game comes first and to leave as originally scheduled.”
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FIFA did not offer much in response so far. FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani stated that "two wrongs do not make a right", and secretary general Mattias Grafström just pointed to Infantino's apologies as to his lateness and that he had no comment to offer beyond that.

His belated arrival was not the first affront of Infantino's related to this congress. Usually the actual congress would be preceeded by lots of talks and negotiations, which is why most of the attendees had already arrived at the start of the week, something that was now largely undermined by the absence of the FIFA president. A session by the FIFA council which had also been planned for this week had been advanced to an online meeting last Friday. And finally, he had spurned the state banquet by Paraguay's state president Santiago Peña on Wednesday evening.

Longer NY Times article on this: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6359867/2025/05/15/uefa-fifa-walk-out-infantino-trump/
 
Let's hope that they can force him out. FIFA at this point needs to be destroyed and rebuilt from the ground up.
 
horsechoker said:
Let's hope that they can force him out. FIFA at this point needs to be destroyed and rebuilt from the ground up.
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They haven't had power at FIFA for decades, money is where the votes are and Blatters apprentice knows how that works.
 
You can be certain that too many of those delegates know which side the bread is buttered on while maybe having heard of rumours about a concept called "morals" for Infantino's reign to be in danger anytime soon. This smells more like a push for more influence by the European FAs by reminding Infantino that while they might not be able to topple him, they can make his life uncomfortable if he keeps showing them the cold shoulder and overstretches his authority.
 
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