Gianni Infantino REFUSES to resign as FIFA president: Under-fire chief apologises and vows to fight on as he breaks cover after being forced to abandon World Cup sale plans

Embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino has apologised and pledged to fight on following an intense round of crisis talks with top executives. 

His disastrous attempt to sell shares in a new World Cup venture to private investors catastrophically backfired and led to widespread calls for his resignation. 

But Infantino will continue in his post and appeared untroubled by the scandal engulfing his leadership, grinning as he watched a Women’s Africa Cup of Nations game on Wednesday night.

Infantino broke cover and was seen in the stands for Malawi’s clash with Zambia at Al Madina Stadium in Rabat, Morocco. 

Infantino was captured on the live broadcast smiling and the weight of the mounting pressure against his presidency showed no signs of manifesting.

He was positioned to the left of FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafström, who was also smiling, despite publicly speaking out against Infantino’s scheme. 

Despite their relaxed demenour, they issued a grovelling apology on Wednesday, telling staff: ‘We sincerely apologise for these errors and commit to them not happening again. 

‘With this in mind, we will conduct a necessary review, and a report will be presented to the FIFA Council at its next scheduled meeting.’

FIFA also shared an update on their website lauding ‘a positive and constructive meeting’ while admitting mistakes were made. 

It read: ‘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.’

Infantino arrived at the crunch meeting in Morocco earlier on Wednesday amid mounting pressure.

He had summoned senior FIFA officials to the Moroccan city of Sale for crisis talks after plans to sell £3.1billion in World Cup stakes leaked last week

The Swiss football administrator has since scrapped the proposals after widespread opposition – including an internal rebellion at FIFA.

UEFA and CONCACAF – the body for North and Central America and the Caribbean – are both calling for Infantino to step down, with Europe declaring a lack of confidence in the FIFA president.

Pressure grew further after Jordan FA president Prince Ali bin Hussein accused him of blackmail, becoming the first Asian nation to rebel against the FIFA president.

Jordan became the 91st member association to move against Infantino, assuming all UEFA and CONCACAF nations follow the stance set by their continental bodies. 106 nations are needed to depose Infantino as president.

A car carrying Infantino was seen arriving at FIFA’s Africa regional office in Sale on Wednesday.

The meeting comes hours after Figo became the latest major name in football to demand his resignation.

In an explosive piece for Daily Mail Sport, which will further ramp up the pressure on the under-fire FIFA chief, the Portuguese legend described his now aborted World Cup sell-off as the ‘lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested behaviour I have ever witnessed’ and a ‘grubby, underhand plot’.

Across 600 no-holds-barred words Figo, who had initially backed Infantino in 2015, brands the disgraced exec a ‘relic who should have no part in football’s future’ and accuses him of ‘a litany of abuses’, also referencing the now-infamous suspension of the ban behind Folarin Balogun’s red card and the half-time show at the World Cup final which ‘broke the laws of the game’.

‘Infantino has debased the office of FIFA President that he promised to elevate,’ the former Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan star writes. ‘He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve.’

Figo, now 53, is viewed by many as a potential successor to Aleksandr Ceferin, head of UEFA which is leading the war against Infantino.

Figo and Jordan’s Prince Ali had both previously stood against former FIFA president Sepp Blatter in the 2015 elections. 

Figo ultimately withdrew from the process, while Prince Ali pulled out after the second round of voting. Blatter announced his resignation four days after re-election amid a vast backlash.

Infantino is facing his own backlash following his World Cup plans, with FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour saying he was ‘deceived’ by the project and others, including chief of global football development Arsene Wenger, have distanced themselves from the hastily dropped plan.

With morale among staff said to be ‘rock bottom’ according to insiders, secretary general Mattias Grafstrom sent an internal email to staff citing ‘a sad and reproachable series of events’ and perhaps tellingly pointing out that ‘individuals, unstable moments and unfortunate episodes come and go’.

Figo, a former FIFA presidential candidate, starts: ‘I could write 10,000 words on the problems at FIFA. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go.’

He adds: ‘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 ten 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.’

The Portuguese, who won 127 caps for his country, then rounds on Infantino for a lack of transparency. ’If it was such a good idea, why not tell your members when you had them all in a room before the World Cup Final?’ he asks.

‘If it was such a robust plan, why not tell your members the risks as well as what you describe as the benefits?

‘If the scheme was a no-brainer, why not be honest about the fact that it was going to give you a $30m a year job at the end of it?’

Figo adds: ‘None of this was done. Because it’s not a good idea. It’s not robust when you fail to be transparent about the crippling returns that private equity always seek.

‘It’s not bold when you fail to explain that once you have sold your share it is gone forever and you have disinherited your successors from ownership of the World Cup.

‘And it’s not honest when you fail to mention that, after you have delivered the head of the World Cup on a platter to your mates in DC, they are going to give you a job worth five times your current salary.’

Figo then highlights FIFA’s staggering level of wealth, asking how many shares the $5billion in its reserves ‘could buy in this grubby, underhand plot’.

‘Infantino has debased the office of FIFA President that he promised to elevate,’ he writes. ‘He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve…he should go. Now.’

According to The Times, allies of Infantino had been trying to persuade ‘FIFA legends’ to publicly support Infantino, but have been unsuccessful.

The FIFA legends are among former international players who have been paid to appear at the governing body’s events.