Luis Figo calls on president Gianni Infantino to resign over controversial FIFA sell-off plans

Former Portugal great Luis Figo has publicly called for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to resign immediately after the collapse of a disputed divestment strategy to sell off stakes in FIFA’s commercial assets.

The 53-year-old who was a candidate for the FIFA presidency in 2015 before withdrawing and later supporting Infantino, described his conduct as the “lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behavior I have ever witnessed.”

Meanwhile Infantino is holding crucial talks today with FIFA executives after convening an emergency session in Rabat in the wake of his now scrapped private funding plans to seek private funding for a company to run the World Cup.

Figo penned in the Daily Mail, “I could write 10,000 words on the problems at FIFA. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go,”

“I have loved football all my life. I was a professional player for 20 years. And believe me, I have met some rogues in my time in the game.

“But what I have seen exposed in the last 10 days is the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behavior I have ever witnessed.

“The man who would do that – the man who would try to force through such major changes just to enrich himself and his friends – is a relic of the game’s past and should have no part in its future.”

Infantino’s plan to expand the World Cup to 64 teams has also been challenged by the European leaders which supports football association leagues in 34 countries across Europe.

It labeled the sell-off proposals as short-sighted and underscored a dangerous idea that casts grave doubt on FIFA’s governance.

The European Leagues asserted that recent events emphasized that it had submitted a formal complaint in October 2024 with the European Commission regarding FIFA’s conflict of interest as both regulator and commercial operator. 

Furthermore, the World Crisis devouring FIFA escalated on Tuesday after secretary general Mattias Grafstrom sent a critical advisory to staff.

In addition, FIFA’s chief of global football development Arsene Wenger also broke his silence on Tuesday to publicly disassociate himself from Gianni Infantino’s private equity stating that the decision to scrap it was “absolutely necessary and beyond question.”