Gianni Infantino has called senior staff members to a meeting in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, according to reports, as the embattled Fifa president looks to overcome mounting criticism over the now scrapped World Cup sale plan.
Infantino's controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors was met with swift and vociferous opposition, forcing Fifa to withdraw the proposal almost immediately.
However, member associations and influential members of world football have questioned the leadership and decision making of Infantino.
Jordan Football Association president Ali bin Hussein launched a scathing attack on Fifa and Infantino on Tuesday, accusing him of “blackmail”.
In a post on X, Bin Hussein alleged that Fifa had verbally communicated during the World Cup that endorsing Infantino “would go a long way to helping our FA out” over assistance.
“We pride ourselves in Jordan in upholding ethical values. We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now,” Bin Hussein wrote on X.
“But the whole situation amounts to blackmail and we refuse to give in to that.”
Jordan FA boss Bin Hussein, who is the half-brother of King Abdullah II, raised other issues as well. He complained about being taxed by the US government for their World Cup participation; a situation not faced by teams that were based in Canada and Mexico.
Jordan qualified for the World Cup for the first time but exited in the group stage.
“We are being taxed by the US government through Fifa for our participation. Money that should go to players and staff,” he added.
“This was not the case for those who played and set up camp in Canada and Mexico. But we happened to be in the USA so now we face these huge costs in taxes for having participated.”
The association chief stated they are still waiting since December for reward money for reaching the Arab Cup final in Qatar.
“The money our team should receive for having reached the final has not been delivered yet, while at the same time Fifa brags about how many billions they have in reserve,” Bin Hussein added.
Fifa's problems seem to be growing with secretary General Mattias Grafstrom and Arsene Wenger among executives who have distanced themselves from Infantino.
Five European national associations, including England's FA, have formally withdrawn their backing for Infantino's re-election at the Fifa Congress in Morocco in March, while Denmark's said it was never going to vote for him in the first place.
However, Infantino has the backing of several football associations. The federations of Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Morocco – which is co-hosting the 2030 World Cup – have declared continued support for Infantino.
According to Reuters, Infantino's immediate concern is avoiding the calling of an Extraordinary Congress, which gets triggered if 43 or more Fifa member associations make a formal written request for one.
