Former Portugal international Luís Figo has called for the resignation of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, branding his conduct "the lowest, most deceitful, most cowardly and selfish" he had ever witnessed. Figo took to the X platform to demand Infantino step down, accusing him of dishonouring the office through deception.
The backlash follows Infantino's abandonment of the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, which would have allowed minority private investment in competitions including the World Cup. The proposal drew fierce opposition from UEFA, Concacaf, and AFC, as well as European leagues that had already filed a formal complaint with the European Commission over FIFA's conflict of interest. The football associations of Wales, Serbia, and Sweden have withdrawn support for Infantino's re-election bid.
Infantino, first elected in 2016, has convened an emergency meeting with senior FIFA officials in Rabat, Morocco on Wednesday. FIFA's head of global football development, Arsène Wenger, said the withdrawal of the investment plan was "absolutely necessary" and confirmed he had no involvement in it.