Gianni Infantino's position as FIFA president looks untenable after his failed plan to sell a share of the commercial rights to the World Cup, the head of Europe's professional football leagues said on Sunday, BTA reported.
Claudius Schaefer, whose organization represents 53 professional men's and women's football leagues, said there could be “only one consequence” for Infantino, after his plan sparked a wave of protests from regional associations.
“When I saw how things had developed, and that the key FIFA bodies were not involved at all, then there was practically only one consequence in each company or association“, Schaefer told the Swiss newspaper “Sontags Zeitung“.
Asked if this meant Infantino was no longer acceptable as FIFA president, Schaefer replied: “This is usually the consequence when someone in an organization pushes through such a business deal without anyone knowing about it.“ On Friday, Infantino announced that FIFA had withdrawn the plan after widespread dissatisfaction. But regional confederations UEFA and CONCACAF said on Saturday they had lost confidence in his leadership.
Schäfer, who is also the CEO of the Swiss Football League, said the proposal suggested FIFA's main goal was to maximize profits for third parties by organizing more and bigger tournaments in the future. "It's all about financial benefits - everything else is completely ignored," he said.
European leagues opposed it because it would add more matches to an already overcrowded international calendar to the detriment of domestic competitions, Schaefer added.
"Nobody knew about these plans, not even the FIFA Council - the governing body of the world football governing body. I was very surprised that the president acted completely alone on this matter."