Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney has reaffirmed the organisation's stance that Fifa president Gianni Infantino should step down from his post. Infantino, who has been at the helm of world football's governing body since 2016 and is seeking re-election for a third time, recently laughed off suggestions that he might resign over the World Cup sell-off controversy, claiming over the weekend that he retains the backing of the "vast, vast majority" of the global football community.
Despite Infantino's claims, Mooney confirmed that the FAW's position has not shifted since it became the first governing body in world football to withdraw its support for his re-election in early August. Mooney argued that the entire governance of the sport must be addressed, stating that the current operational system is not working and asserting that a Fifa president must offer moral guardianship while keeping the game's best interests at heart at all times.
The calls for Infantino to vacate his position follow the controversial Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) project, which surfaced in July with plans to sell stakes in Fifa's tournaments to private investors. Although Infantino issued an apology to the Fifa Council earlier this month regarding the communication and consultation surrounding the initiative, Europe's governing body, Uefa, has formally demanded answers. Uefa has set a deadline of 2 November for Fifa to provide key documentation and address unresolved issues regarding its internal decision-making processes.
Speaking to BBC Wales, Mooney labelled the FFE enterprise as a prime example of deficient guardianship, inadequate guardrails, and poor governance. Looking forward, the FAW chief insisted that reform must target the wider administrative framework rather than solely focusing on Infantino, warning that granting a single individual as much centralized authority as the Fifa president currently wields is fundamentally "crazy."