Rabat – Former Portugal captain Luis Figo has called for Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA president, joining mounting opposition to the Swiss-Italian official following the collapse of the FIFA Forward Enterprise project.
In a strongly worded statement published on Wednesday, Figo accused Infantino of damaging the office he had promised to improve when he became FIFA president in 2016.
“Today I join others from across our game and call for Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA president,” Figo wrote.
The former Real Madrid and Barcelona winger alleged that Infantino had misled people within football and pursued his own interests at the expense of the sport he was elected to serve.
Figo also pointed to the loss of confidence among senior FIFA employees, close advisers and other leading figures in football.
He concluded his intervention with a direct message: “Infantino must go.”
“It is too late to save his dignity, but it is not too late to save football,” he added. “He should go. Now.”
Figo’s criticism carries additional significance because of his history in football administration.
The 2000 Ballon d’Or winner planned to contest the FIFA presidential election in 2015 before withdrawing his candidacy ahead of the vote. He later joined UEFA as a football adviser.
FFE collapse fuels leadership revolt
The pressure on Infantino follows the failure of the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal, which would have transferred FIFA’s principal commercial operations into a new subsidiary valued at approximately $20 billion.
The planned company would have managed revenue-generating activities connected to competitions such as the men’s and women’s World Cups, including broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and hospitality rights.
Under the proposal, private investors would have acquired a 20% stake in the new entity for approximately $4.2 billion. Infantino abandoned the initiative following strong opposition from confederations, national associations and officials within FIFA.
Several senior FIFA figures subsequently distanced themselves from the project.
FIFA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour said employees had been “deceived” and characterized the proposal as the project of one individual. Infantino’s senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in protest, describing the plan as a poor agreement for football.
Arsène Wenger, FIFA’s chief of global football development, said he had not participated in drafting the proposal and only learned about it through media coverage. Wenger described its withdrawal as necessary.
FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström also addressed employees in an internal message, referring to a “sad and reproachable series of events” that ended with the project being permanently abandoned.
UEFA has said it no longer has confidence in Infantino’s leadership. The European governing body has also threatened legal action over the proposal and instructed FIFA to preserve any material that could be relevant to potential proceedings.
Crisis discussions held in Morocco
Infantino was holding discussions with senior FIFA officials in Morocco on Wednesday as he sought to manage the growing internal and external opposition to his leadership.
The meeting was reportedly taking place at FIFA’s Africa office in Salé, near Rabat. Morocco, which will co-host the 2030 World Cup, remains among the national associations that have publicly maintained their support for the FIFA president.
Infantino has led FIFA since February 2016 and announced his intention to seek another term covering the 2027-2031 cycle.
The next presidential election is scheduled to take place at the FIFA Congress in Morocco on March 18, 2027.
His position remains formally unchanged, but the opposition from Figo, UEFA and senior members of FIFA’s administration has placed his leadership under unprecedented pressure ahead of the vote.
