Pressure on FIFA president Gianni Infantino is spreading beyond football’s governing bodies. A group of prominent former players has now joined the growing backlash. As a result, they are calling for major changes to the way the global game is run.
In a joint statement, the football legends accused FIFA of drifting away from the values at the heart of the sport. Furthermore, they criticised major decisions being made without meaningful input from players and fans.
Frenchman Mikaël Silvestre, the former Manchester United defender and a member of FIFA’s ‘Players’ Voice’ committee, was the first to publish the statement. It quickly spread across social media and international media. As a result, a group of high-profile former players was added to the growing list of critics of Infantino.
Football legends aren’t holding back
The group includes some of the biggest names in recent football history. Among them are Emmanuel Petit, Juan Sebastián Verón, Robert Pirès, Mikaël Silvestre and Lucy Bronze.
Their message starts with what football gave them: some of the greatest moments of their careers and the pride of representing their countries. However, they stressed that none of this would have been possible without the fans. They described the fans as the true foundation of the game.
Then came the blunt conclusion: “Enough is enough.”
The players argued that silence is no longer an option. This is because football moves further away from the values on which it was built.
The statement does not name Infantino or explicitly demand his resignation. But its criticism of FIFA’s current leadership is unmistakable. The signatories argue that those in power have become unable to separate their own interests from what is best for football.
“Change is essential”
The former players are not simply objecting to individual FIFA policies. They are demanding a different relationship between football’s decision-makers and the people who actually make up the game — on the pitch and in the stands.
They argue that major decisions have too often been made without consulting players or properly listening to supporters. Both groups, they say, need a “genuine, direct and audible” voice in the governance of world football.
The call extends beyond players and fans. Clubs and football governing bodies must also have a role in deciding what comes next, the signatories argue, with major changes needed to rebuild trust.
They ended with an unmistakable warning:
The football community has remained silent for too long… We will no longer remain silent.
Infantino dwindling popularity
The intervention comes at a difficult moment for Infantino. He has faced increasing criticism from within the football establishment over a range of commercial and political issues surrounding FIFA.
The pressure is also building ahead of the upcoming elections. Meanwhile, continental and domestic federations are exploring ways to challenge the FIFA president. UEFA, meanwhile, has increasingly opposed his proposals over the commercial rights to the World Cup.
The former players’ intervention changes the character of that dispute. What was once largely an argument between football’s governing institutions is becoming a wider fight over who gets a say in the game’s future.
Players and fans, the statement makes clear, do not want to simply watch those decisions being made for them.
Statements alone will not remove Infantino from FIFA’s presidency. But if the growing criticism from players, associations and governing bodies begins to converge, it could develop into a much more serious political challenge ahead of the elections.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
