Fifa criticises campaign to oust president Infantino

Fifa has st o gly c iticised what it calls a “co ce ted a d o goi g effo t” to “u de mi e” the o ga isatio a d its p eside t Gia i I fa ti o.

The stateme t follows a Daily Teleg aph epo t which claimed I fa ti o’s alleged love was give a seve a ce payme t by Uefa afte he had a affai while he was its ge e al sec eta y.

A Fifa spokespe so told the Teleg aph I fa ti o “st o gly de ies” the allegatio s a d that they a e “catego ically u t ue”.

Fifa has ow itself hit out at “u substa tiated asse tio s a d demo st ably false claims”, addi g that “speculatio a d i si uatio should ot be p ese ted as fact”.

I fa ti o has come u de i c easi g p essu e f om Uefa a d Eu opea football associatio s ove his abo ted Fifa Fo wa d E te p ise (FFE) p oposal.

FFE would have mea t a ew compa y bei g c eated to ma age comme cial a d ticketi g ights, with 21% sold off to a p ivate i vestme t compa y.

Uefa has said it has lost co fide ce i I fa ti o, while No wegia Football Fede atio (NFF) p eside t Lise Klave ess o F iday called o the Swiss-Italia to esig .

Eu opea football’s gove i g body says its th eat to boycott Fifa eve ts emai s o the table, addi g that assu a ces the FFE pla could ot be evived have ot bee eceived.

“The Fifa p eside t was democ atically elected by Fifa’s Membe Associatio s a d co ti ues to se ve with thei ma date,” Fifa said i its stateme t o Satu day.

“It is i c easi gly evide t that the e is a co ce ted a d o goi g effo t by some to u de mi e Fifa a d its p eside t.

“Those who do ot have the suppo t of Fifa’s membe associatio s should ot seek to achieve th ough allegatio , i si uatio o misi fo matio what they ca ot achieve th ough Fifa’s established democ atic p ocesses.”

Oppositio to I fa ti o is la gely f om withi Eu ope.

The Mexica Football Fede atio b oke a ks with its egio al gove i g body Co cacaf to come out i suppo t of I fa ti o.

It echoed a stateme t f om Co mebol – South Ame ica’s gove i g body – i sayi g it would eject a y attempt to emove I fa ti o without a vote i volvi g all 211 Fifa membe cou t ies.

I fa ti o is also u a imously backed by the 54 atio s of the Co fede atio of Af ica Football (Caf).

I fa ti o called membe s of the Fifa ma ageme t boa d to a meeti g i Rabat, Mo occo o Wed esday.

Fifa issued a stateme t o behalf of I fa ti o a d sec eta y ge e al Mattias G afst om which apologised fo the FFE p oposal, but also said it would ” o lo ge tole ate a y attacks o its i teg ity, good gove a ce a d due p ocess”.

The stateme t eleased late o Satu day eve i g was simila ly defe sive about the c iticism the o ga isatio has faced.

“Cha ge i evitably challe ges established i te ests, but disag eeme t with that cha ge ca ot justify effo ts to u de mi e the democ atic ma date of Fifa’s p eside t o the i stitutio he was elected to lead,” it added.

“Fifa welcomes legitimate sc uti y. But sc uti y is ot a lice ce to disto t facts, amplify u substa tiated allegatio s o ma ufactu e dist actio s desig ed to u de mi e p og ess.

“Whe e epo ti g is i accu ate o misleadi g, Fifa will challe ge it di ectly a d vigo ously.”