"A sad and reproachable series of events." That's how FIFA's own Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom described his boss's conduct in an internal email to staff — and Gianni Infantino wasn't even named. He didn't need to be.
Infantino is in genuine freefall. His plan to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors — a $20 billion scheme he kept secret from his own executives, reportedly even from members of his inner circle — collapsed under the weight of opposition from UEFA, Concacaf, and multiple member associations. UEFA is now threatening legal action. FIFA executives are reportedly pushing for his resignation. And according to The Times, Infantino reached out to Donald Trump in a last-ditch bid to shore up his position.
FIFA denies that last part flatly. "The FIFA President has not made any call to the U.S. President, or any members of his administration, in recent days. It is pure fiction," the governing body posted on its official X account. The Trump administration also denied it. So either everyone's lying, or the story got ahead of the facts. Either way, the fact that it was even believable tells you everything about where Infantino's credibility currently sits.
The staff email says more than FIFA's PR ever will
The memo obtained by Sky News is the real story here. Grafstrom didn't just reassure staff — he effectively threw the FFE privatisation project under a bus while standing next to the man who built it. He described the situation as "difficult to comprehend and accept," welcomed the project's permanent abandonment, and told employees they don't need to worry about the "political context" — a remarkably candid admission that the politics are very real.
"Individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go," he wrote. At an organisation as protocol-obsessed as FIFA, that sentence is practically a dagger.
The presidential election is scheduled for March 18, 2027. That's nearly two years away — a long time to hold a position when your Secretary General is sending emails that carefully avoid your name while describing your signature initiative as reproachable. Anyone looking at odds on Infantino completing his term should probably factor in that even the people defending him in public are choosing their words very deliberately.
- UEFA is threatening legal proceedings over the World Cup sale proposal
- FIFA executives have reportedly called for Infantino to resign
- The $20 billion FFE project has been permanently abandoned
- FIFA Secretary General Grafstrom sent an internal email condemning the "series of events" without naming Infantino directly
- The next FIFA presidential election is set for March 18, 2027
Grafstrom closed his email by saying his door "remains open" and that the last week had been "both extraordinary and challenging." Extraordinary is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
