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Gianni Infantino's attempt to secure backing from a high-profile former player has blown up in his face, with Real Madrid icon Luís Figo delivering a scathing takedown of the FIFA president, whose recent conduct he described as "the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested" he has ever had the misfortune of witnessing.
Infantino has been fighting an uphill battle in the days following his announcement of his ultimately ill-fated proposal to sell off stakes in the commercial rights of FIFA's most prized competitions, specifically the World Cup and Club World Cup.
Amid intense criticism, the proposal was scrapped as swiftly as it had been introduced, yet that has done little to halt the cross-continental push to unseat Infantino as FIFA president. UEFA, European football's governing body, had been spearheading that effort, but the movement has now found a recognizable face in the form of the 2000 Ballon d'Or recipient.
"I could write 10,000 words on the problems at FIFA," Figo wrote in an open letter published by the Daily Mail. "But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go."
"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 retired Portugal international added. "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."
Figo: Infantino Has Lied
"If the scheme was a no-brainer," Figo pressed on, "why not be transparent about the fact that it was going to hand you a $30 million-a-year position at the end of it?"
This specific claim originates from the original Times report, which alleged that Infantino had been positioning himself for a commissioner role at the helm of the subsidiary company overseeing the World Cup. FIFA has denied that this was ever on the table.
World football's governing body did confirm that $4.2 billion worth of shares in the company would be offloaded to private investors, specifically the Thrive Eternal fund established by Josh Kushner, the brother of U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law.
Figo took aim at the $5 billion sitting in FIFA's reserves which, as he noted, could have covered the full cost of all the shares in this "grubby, underhand plot."
"The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product... The World Cup is not for sale." pic.twitter.com/KuE75HtARS
"None of this comes as a surprise when you consider the litany of abuses he has inflicted on football's reputation," Figo went on, "from suspending and reversing disciplinary decisions to breaking the laws of the game over a halftime show, nothing gets in the way of pleasing his friends."
During his frantic search for support, Infantino sent his lieutenants out to persuade the roster of 'FIFA Legends' to publicly endorse the Swiss executive. "They would love a famous former player to come out in support of Infantino," one source told The Times, "but it appears he is too toxic." Figo's blistering statement has cast him in an even more damaging light.
"Infantino has debased the office of FIFA president that he promised to elevate," the former winger concluded. "He has lied, deceived and tried to feather his own nest at the expense of the game he is supposed to serve.
"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."
Infantino Stages 'Crisis Meeting' Amid Blackmail Accusations
Former FIFA vice president and current Jordan football association president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein made the explosive claim that he had been "blackmailed" into backing Infantino during the World Cup.
In a bombshell X post on Tuesday, Prince Ali stated: "We have been waiting for reward money for our players since December for the Arab Cup in Qatar, which is a FIFA event. The money our team should receive for having reached the final has not been delivered yet, while at the same time FIFA brags about how many billions they have in reserve."
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"FIFA has been refusing to help us on any of these or other matters," he continued, "until it was verbally communicated to me during the World Cup that if I endorsed Infantino it would go a long way to helping our FA out.
"We pride ourselves in Jordan in upholding ethical values. We did not endorse him before and certainly will not now. But the whole situation amounts to blackmail and we refuse to give in to that."
As pressure continues to mount around him, Infantino has reportedly called his remaining advisors to Morocco for what has been widely characterized as a "crisis meeting." The embattled official is not entirely without allies just yet, as several Asian associations have notably voiced support for his continued tenure, while the confederation of African nations stopped short of condemning the original proposal.