Pressure on FIFA president Gianni Infantino intensified on Saturday after UEFA declared it had lost confidence in the governing body’s leadership, following the collapse of the controversial plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights of the FIFA World Cup to private investors.

The unprecedented rebuke came hours after FIFA abandoned its proposal to establish a $20 billion commercial entity that would have allowed external investors to acquire minority stakes in the World Cup and other major FIFA competitions.

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UEFA questions FIFA leadership

European football’s governing body said the withdrawal of the proposal was only the beginning of a broader effort to restore confidence in FIFA’s governance.

“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” UEFA said in a statement as quoted on African News.

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The organisation added that it would work with its member associations and other continental confederations to examine how the proposal emerged and ensure a similar situation does not happen again.

“We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast-track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game,” UEFA said.

“We must identify those responsible and hold them to account.”

Concacaf demands accountability

Opposition to Infantino’s…