Luis Figo Demands Immediate Resignation of FIFA President Infantino
Portuguese football legend Luis Figo has become the first prominent former player to publicly call for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s resignation, launching a scathing attack on the Swiss official’s conduct amid the fallout from the now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme.
Writing in an opinion column published in the Daily Mail on Wednesday, Figo argued that the solution to FIFA’s mounting problems required only three words: Infantino must go. The former Real Madrid and Barcelona star, who played professionally for two decades and won the Ballon d’Or during his career, described Infantino’s conduct as the worst example of self-serving dishonesty he had ever witnessed in football, despite having encountered plenty of questionable characters throughout his time in the sport. France 24
Figo directed particular criticism at the manner in which Infantino attempted to push through major structural changes at FIFA purely to benefit himself and his associates, arguing that such behaviour marked him as out of step with the game’s future direction. The Portuguese legend also took aim at the lack of transparency surrounding the collapsed scheme, questioning why Infantino had not simply been upfront about the fact that the deal would reportedly have secured him a $30 million-a-year position had it gone through. He further accused the FIFA president of overseeing what he characterised as a period of self-interested leadership, arguing that Infantino had compromised the integrity of the presidency he had once pledged to elevate.
Figo’s intervention carries particular weight given his own history within FIFA’s governance. He was a candidate for the FIFA presidency in 2015 before withdrawing from the race and later throwing his support behind Infantino, and he currently serves as a football adviser to UEFA, working closely alongside UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin.
The criticism comes as Infantino holds emergency crisis talks with senior FIFA officials in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday, in an effort to steady his position following the collapse of the controversial plan to sell private equity stakes in the World Cup and other major tournaments. Senior figures expected to attend the talks include FIFA General Secretary Mattias Grafström and members of the organisation’s management board. The scheme had already triggered a wave of institutional backlash, with UEFA declaring that the integrity and governance of football were not commodities to be traded, and one of Infantino’s own senior advisers, Carlos Cordeiro, resigning in protest last week.
While opposition to the plan has been widespread, not every football stakeholder has condemned the proposal, with some officials previously expressing openness to the investment scheme’s stated aim of increasing revenue distribution to FIFA’s member associations. Nonetheless, Figo’s intervention marks a significant escalation in the pressure being placed on Infantino, adding a high-profile former player’s voice to a growing chorus of confederations and national federations demanding accountability, or an outright change in leadership, at world football’s governing body.
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