Gianni Infantino is continuing to fight for his future after holding crisis talks with senior officials in Rabat on Wednesday.
The under-pressure Fifa president has spent the last week in Morocco after attending Throne Day celebrations to mark the 27th anniversary of King Mohammed VI’s accession, and will fly to Colombia on Thursday to attend the inauguration of the country’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, in the city of Cali.
On Wednesday evening, Infantino appeared at a Women’s African Cup of Nations match at the Al Madina Stadium in Rabat, sitting alongside his No 2 at Fifa, the secretary general Mattias Grafström. Their appearance together came only a day after it emerged that Grafström had called the Fifa Forward Enterprise a “sad and reproachable series of events” in an email to the organisation’s staff.
Infantino decided to travel to Africa and South America in the wake of the storm over Fifa’s proposals to sell off 21% of the World Cup. Those confederations are his biggest supporters.
Neither the Confederation of African Football nor Conmebol have joined the Uefa-led rebellion against the Fifa Forward Enterprise sell-off, and remain steadfast in their support.
Infantino is hoping that Morocco in particular can play a crucial strategic role in galvanising backing for him in the Middle East, which is likely to become a vital battleground in determining the outcome of the vote for his re-election in March.
Unlike Caf and Conmebol, the Asian Football Confederation does not vote as a bloc, leaving Infantino to lobby individual countries for support if, as expected, Uefa and the North American confederation Concacaf succeed in finding a candidate to stand against him in next year’s presidential election at Fifa’s congress, which will also take place in Rabat.
Few details have emerged about Wednesday’s meeting, which was attended by Fifa’s general secretary Mattias Grafström and chief legal officer Emilio García Silvero, other than Infantino’s determination to carry on.
The Times reported that Infantino has offered Morocco a guarantee they will stage the 2030 World Cup final, which they will host jointly with Spain and Portugal, in return for their assistance in lobbying other countries, although this has been denied by Fifa.
“It is false and misleading to claim the Fifa president has made any promise in relation to hosting the Fifa World 2030 final,” it said in a statement. “A decision will be made by Fifa in due course.”
