Celestine Karoney
BBC Sport Africa

Speaking to the BBC after the FFE proposal emerged, football officials from Malawi and Uganda said Fifa investment had transformed the game both on and off the pitch, arguing such funding is vital given the financial realities facing many African nations.

"Malawi needs money. Malawi needs stadiums, our government cannot manage to give us even $1m (£740,000) every year for football," Malawi FA president Fleetwood Haiya told BBC’s Newsday programme in voicing his support for the FFE proposal.

"Our government is not able to make sure that they have medical supplies in hospitals [and] at the same time to look at football.”

But support for the project on the continent was not universal. Former Sierra Leone FA president and ex-Fifa Council member Isha Johansen was among African voices opposing it, warning it risked over-commercialising football asking, "what price does one have to pay in order to get to this elevated development for football in Africa?” Johansen urged African football chiefs to think carefully about the game's future.

Image source, Getty Images

While European governing body Uefa voted to boycott Fifa competitions, including World Cups, if plans weren't scrapped to sell stakes in those competitions to private investors, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) remained largely silent.

Much of that has to do with the close relationship between Caf, Fifa and Infantino.

Caf president Patrice Motsepe lauded Infantino for his "excellent work" after this year's World Cup and hailed the Swiss as "a good friend".

"He is loyal to Africa," Motsepe said on 22 July. "When people have been loyal to you, you never stab them in the back."

Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf, which runs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean, had all opposed Infantino's plan.

A lack of financial resources is a big reason for African member associations - many of whom rely on scant government funding - to back Fifa's proposals.

The lure of of $40m (£30m) from Fifa may have proven enticing to Caf's 54 member associations, especially as an initial $20m (£15m) could have been received as early as 1 January – provided the plans were approved by 19 September.

Celestine Karoney
BBC Sport Africa

South Africa's sports minister Gayton McKenzie has urged African football to resist what he called the "public lynching" of Fifa president Gianni Infantino. McKenzie added the continent should remember "who has been a friend to us" before joining calls for change.

McKenzie's support for Infantino echoes sentiments held by many African football bosses including Caf president Patrice Motsepe. Motsepe has previously described Infantino as "a good friend" who has been "loyal to Africa", although Caf never publicly stated its position on the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal before it was withdrawn.

Support for Infantino on the continent stems largely from Fifa's Forward programme, a funding scheme introduced by Infantino in 2016, that many African federations have become increasingly reliant on. The money has funded football projects from national teams, federation headquarters, stadiums to supporting FA operational costs in countries where government and commercial investment for the sport is limited.

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) holds its executive committee meeting today, with Infantino's investment plan on the agenda.

This has been overtaken by recent events to an extent, with Fifa having cancelled the initiative.

However, Caf could decide to publicly reaffirm its support for Infantino's re-election as Fifa president as a block of 54 member associations - which it first did in April.

Infantino's Fifa Forward programme has resulted in funding of $8m (£5.94m) for all nations in each three-year cycle. And that has earned a lot of loyalty.

Five of the seven African countries on the Fifa Council - Egypt, Morocco, Niger, Mauritania and Comoros - have already come out and backed Infantino.

While there remains strong opposition to Infantino within Europe and North America, this is not replicated globally and it shows why it will be so difficult to remove him.

Image source, Getty Images

Gianni Infantino, 56, was born and raised in Switzerland to Italian parents. Never a professional footballer, he studied law at university before moving into sports governance.

He joined Uefa in 2000 and spent 16 years at the organisation which now seeks his departure from Fifa. He was Uefa general secretary - in charge of daily business operations - between 2009 and 2016.

Following the dethroning of Sepp Blatter, Infantino was elected Fifa president in February 2016. He narrowly defeated Sheik Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa of Bahrain - who was generally regarded as favourite for the election - by 115 votes to 88.

Infantino was helped to become Fifa president by a block of votes from Concacaf, the North American federation, and has since worked closely with US president Donald Trump, who was first elected later in 2016.

Dan Roan
BBC sports editor

While UEFA are yet to respond officially to FIFA’s backing of Gianni Infantino & his apology to member associations, it is fair to say that some at the European confederation are deeply unimpressed, claiming it shows exactly why the beleaguered president must step down.

The feeling within Uefa is that the statement was far from representative of the entire world governing body, and that there has been a lack of consultation with the Council or membership.

There is also a view that Infantino is trying to swerve personal responsibility by sharing out the blame for the aborted FFE plan, and that he alone should have apologised, rather than issue his expression of regret alongside his deputy Mattias Grafstrom.

In stark contrast, within FIFA, the view from one Infantino loyalist is that the outcry, especially in Europe, is bordering on “hysteria”, and fails to acknowledge the legitimacy he has globally.

By clinging to power, Infantino has mounted the start of an attempted fightback. But it could yet fuel the revolt against him, both from outside and within FIFA. And it looks increasingly likely his opponents will have to identity the rival candidate that could challenge him at next year’s presidential election.

Image source, Getty Images

Uefa now has a problem, and it is not an insignificant hurdle to overcome.

Since Gianni Infantino performed his U-turn, only Concacaf as a confederation has criticised the Fifa president. But, unlike Uefa, it did not go as far as to say it had lost confidence in him.

While the Asian confederation did reject the plan, there has been no blanket statement since Infantino aborted it.

Uefa has a great deal of power, but it cannot realistically overthrow Infantino on its own. It needs more global support.

Outside of Europe, so far only Jordan - one of a handful of the 211 member associations not to have signed a letter of support for Infantino's re-election before this controversy - have publicly called for him to go.

The list of countries who have underscored their support is much longer - admittedly from within Infantino's firm power base in Asia and Africa.

In recent days Egypt, Morocco, Niger, Mauritania, DR Congo and the Philippines have all backed Infantino.

Such countries have benefited from funding via Infantino's Fifa Forward programme, the forerunner to FFE, to the tune of $8m (£5.94m) in each three-year cycle.

Uefa has to find a way to persuade such countries that another presidential candidate can offer the same financial programmes, but with greater transparency and reform.

Infantino, however, already has their loyalty.

BBC Breakfast

Former England FA chief Mark Palios on BBC Breakfast about Infantino's future: "When you're in such a public-facing position, you do need your senior officials behind you and they have stood up and said they are not happy with what's gone on. He's done the first part. The battleground now moves to the confederations to stay with what they said.

"What he will try and do is play the long game and get to the elections. He does have cash in Fifa at the moment so there could be distributions to convince the smaller confederations."

On how Uefa may respond: "They will accept there is an apology but the reality is that they have to be really persuaded that Infantino can be in front of an organisation that can really heal itself.

"I don't think there was any real transparency in terms of this proposal. I can't believe that anyone who can bring forward such a proposal can believe it can heal itself. I think they will be extremely sceptical of the suggestion."

Gianna Infantino has the backing of Fifa executives - for now.

Before his abandoned private investment proposal, it was anticipated that the Swiss would be re-elected unopposed for a fourth term as Fifa president at the Fifa Congress in March.

Football associations around the world, including some in Europe, had already confirmed their intention to support the 56-year-old.

But sources say in addition to rejecting Infantino's plan, the vast majority of the Concacaf members are either losing faith in the Fifa president's ability to govern the game, or have lost it altogether.

Uefa has since withdrawn its support, while the Welsh FA became the first home nation to publicly do so. The English FA is expected to follow.

Support for Infantino in Africa is unlikely to have been affected, while the stance of nations in Asia and South America is unclear.

After emergency talks were held at Fifa's Africa office, Infantino continued with his duties as Fifa president and attended last night's Women's Africa Cup of Nations match between Malawi and Zambia.

He was pictured leaving the Stade El Barid in Rabat, Morocco after the game.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

FIFA

Following a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, the Fifa Secretary General and members of the Fifa Management Board in attendance reaffirmed their full support for Fifa President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 Fifa Member Associations. In turn, the Fifa President reiterated his full support for the Fifa Secretary General and the Fifa Administration for their necessary and outstanding work in the delivery of his vision.

It was discussed and agreed that the processes, communications and interactions between the Fifa President, the Fifa Secretary General and the Fifa Management Board that support the delivery of this vision can and should always be continuously improved in terms of their effectiveness and efficiency.

The great work of the Fifa Administration that ensured a successful delivery of the Fifa World Cup 2026™ was acknowledged, and which would not have been possible without the Fifa President, the Fifa Secretary General and Fifa Administration speaking as one voice and working as one team.

In this regard, Fifa’s top management is fully confident that the outcomes of today's meeting will strengthen Fifa's governance, help restore confidence in the organisation and enable us to prepare for the major events and challenges ahead in a united and transparent manner while continuing our mission to develop the game around the world.

The meeting also addressed the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, where mistakes made were acknowledged. It was agreed that it was not the intention for the Fifa Council and Fifa Member Associations to feel excluded from the process and that the process should have been handled differently. It was further acknowledged that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media.

In a separate letter to the Fifa Council and Fifa Member Associations, an apology was made for these errors together with a commitment to ensure they do not happen again. A review will now be conducted, and a report will be presented to the Fifa Council at its next scheduled meeting.

As previously communicated, the FFE proposal, which would have been subject to the approval of the Fifa Member Associations and the Fifa Council, is now off the table. With the project withdrawn, it was agreed that Fifa will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation. There are always lessons to be learned, and Fifa will continue to improve its processes in light of this experience. In this instance, however, it is important to stress that, although mistakes were made, everything that was done was done in full compliance with the Fifa regulatory framework.

Fifa will work closely with the relevant stakeholders to examine how it can further support the development of the game through the Fifa Forward programme for the benefit of Fifa’s 211 Member Associations, the Confederations and the Regional Associations.

Wednesday, 5 August

• Infantino apologises for his "errors" and receives backing of senior Fifa executives at a management board meeting in Rabat, Morocco

Image source, Getty Images

Former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Portugal winger Luis Figo, who ran for the Fifa presidency against Gianni Infantino's predecessor Sepp Blatter in 2015 before withdrawing, called on him to immediately resign.

He said: "I could write 10,000 words on the problems at FIFA. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go.

I have loved football all my life. I was a professional player for 20 years. And believe me, I have met some rogues in my time in the game.

"But what I have seen exposed in the last 10 days is the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behaviour I have ever witnessed.

"The man who would do that - the man who would try to force through such major changes just to enrich himself and his friends - is a relic of the game’s past and should have no part in its future.

"He has lost the support of his senior staff, his closest advisers, the vast majority of people who devote their lives to this sport and even, it would seem, the FIFA Peace Prize winner.

"It is too late to save his dignity but it is not too late to save football. He should go. Now."

Image source, Getty Images

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who plays an important role at Fifa since joining in 2019, had this to say about Gianni Infantino's plans.

He said: "The recent events at Fifa deserve some clarity from my side. At Fifa, I am the Chief of Global Football Development. Together with my team, I oversee the data analysis of the game, the Fifa online training centre, the development of youth education through 60 academies across 60 countries where they are most needed, and youth competitions around the world.

“In addition, I am a technical adviser to IFAB.I was not involved in this strategic plan and first became aware of the project through media reports.

“The decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question, because I firmly believe in an independent Fifa that serves our game with commitment, transparency, and integrity.”

Image source, Getty Images

Infantino's proposal has deepened his ongoing conflict with European governing body Uefa - the most powerful and wealthy regional organiser.

Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin boycotted the World Cup final in protest against Fifa's decision to overturn USA striker Folarin Balogun's suspension after an intervention from Trump.

That followed a series of Uefa announcements making clear it would not follow Fifa policy on controversial issues including dynamic ticket pricing and hydration breaks.

One of the cornerstones of the division between the two is that Fifa's revamped and expanded Club World Cup has become a clear, direct threat to Uefa's Champions League.

Some reports indicate a threat by European nations to boycott the World Cup could be possible. The theory is that a World Cup without European countries would severely compromise the tournament's value to Fifa - but the chances of that coming to pass are debatable.

Europe is one of the main hosts of the next tournament in 2030, with Spain and Portugal holding the majority of matches alongside Morocco, and Spain is currently lobbying hard to win the right to host the final ahead of Morocco.

There is also a women's World Cup next year in Brazil, which could be an early target for any action, if Uefa does want to take a bold step of its own.

Uefa could potentially find and field a candidate to stand against Infantino in next year's presidential election, but given Uefa nations comprise only 55 votes, they would be unlikely to win.

Monday, 3 August

• Wales becomes first home nation to publicly withdraw backing for Infantino's bid to continue his leadership
• Uefa threatens legal action over Infantino's scrapped plans
• FA set to write to Infantino withdrawing its previous support
• Uefa sources say Infantino opponents threaten "non co-operation" unless he resigns

Tuesday, 4 August

• Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafstrom sends internal memo to staff describing the situation as "a sad and reproachable series of events."