Gianni Infantino stressed his wish to “grow football in every corner of the world” despite the beleaguered FIFA president facing a further blow in his bid to cling onto power in the wake of his aborted bid to sell off equity to private investors.
The six Nordic Football Associations — Denmark, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Finland, Norway and Sweden — announced they had “lost confidence” in Infantino in a joint statement on Sunday, ramping up the pressure on him to either stand down or be replaced.
But Infantino fired back at his critics during a visit to the Dominican Republic, stressing FIFA’s commitment to correct the game’s global power balance — a comment that may be perceived as a swipe at UEFA, one of the three confederations to have officially come out against him.
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Speaking as he met Caribbean Football Union members at an international under-14 event organised by FIFA Forward, Infantino said: “We have transformed FIFA, made it to what it is, and I stress again today to the CFU members, we are here with one job — to grow football in every corner of the world.
“We need to narrow this gap between the big, big countries and all the others. We need to give a chance to all the others.
“It’s important to engage, to have a dialogue, to express views and opinions. A lot has been happening in the last few weeks and it’s important that you listen, and you’re able to express what your feelings are.”
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Most Nordic nations had already individually indicated they would not back Infantino’s re-election at the FIFA Congress in Morocco in March. Last week, Norway FA president Lisa Klaveness responded to FIFA’s removal of chief operating officer Kevin Lamour by accusing Infantino of “management by fear.”
A joint statement read: “The six Nordic football associations have lost confidence in the FIFA president and have serious concerns about the governance and high-level decision-making of the organisation.
“The Nordic football associations stand firmly with UEFA and the measures suggested by its National Associations in unison. We expect that FIFA provides binding assurances that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.
Read more:Norway FA chief slams Infantino’s FIFA for firing COO in ‘management by fear’
“We also support the demand put forward by AFC, CONCACAF and UEFA, for a fully-third-party review of the events surroundings the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal.”
Although UEFA and CONMEBOL have called for Infantino’s removal, he appears to retain majority support in Africa and South America. Despite the Oceania Football Confederation also declaring support, its biggest member, New Zealand, broke ranks to withdraw their endorsement.
