FIFA apologizes to 211 federations, issues firm statement on President Infantino

FIFA has written to all 211 member associations to admit errors in the disputed capital mobilization scheme, and reiterates its backing for President Gianni Infantino.

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has sent an official letter to all 211 member associations to clarify developments following the emergency meeting in Rabat, Morocco, and to admit shortcomings in the controversial plan related to raising funds from international tournaments, including the World Cup.

According to AS, the letter signed by Secretary General Mattias Grafström emphasized that the meeting in Rabat was held to assess recent events and to agree on FIFA's direction for the next phase.

Opening the letter, FIFA praised the executive body for the successful organization of the 2026 World Cup, while affirming that this achievement resulted from close collaboration between President Gianni Infantino, the Secretary General, and the entire management team.

Notably, FIFA also spoke out to deny speculation about internal conflicts. The organization stated that all members attending the meeting expressed full support for President Gianni Infantino who was elected by the 211 member associations. In return, Infantino also affirmed his full confidence in Secretary General Grafström and the FIFA executive body.

Alongside reaffirming unity, FIFA acknowledged that the process of building the new investment project had many flaws. "We admit that we made mistakes in preparing the proposal. FIFA never intended to exclude the FIFA Council or the member associations from this process. We should have acted differently."

FIFA also apologized to the federations if they felt affected by the mistakes in the project development process as well as the document leak to the media. The organization pledged to conduct a comprehensive review, submit a report to the FIFA Council at the upcoming meeting, and confirmed that the controversial proposal has been officially withdrawn.

Closing the letter, FIFA issued a firm message that after the project was canceled, the organization will not tolerate any actions that harm FIFA's reputation, transparency, and governance system, and is ready to take all necessary measures to protect its reputation.

FIFA emphasized that the recent lessons will help the organization improve in the future, while reaffirming its continued cooperation with the 211 member associations to develop global football through the FIFA Forward program.