Wales Breaks Ranks as Uefa Squares Off With Infantino Over Fifa Investment Plan
A scrapped scheme to sell stakes in Fifa competitions to private investors has European soccer's governing body threatening court, and now one nation has pulled its support for Gia
By Gus "Walk-Off" Fields
The fight for the soul of world soccer's boardroom is getting louder. Uefa says it is prepared to take legal action against Fifa over Gianni Infantino's now-scrapped plan to sell off stakes in Fifa competitions to private investors, according to BBC Sport.
The details of the investment scheme itself remain thin in what's been reported, but the reaction is not: Uefa, which governs European soccer, has decided the matter is serious enough to threaten the courtroom over it.
Into that standoff steps Wales, which BBC Sport reports has become the first nation to publicly withdraw its backing for Infantino's bid to continue leading Fifa. It's a small delegation in the grand scheme of global soccer politics — one federation among 211 — but symbolism matters in these fights, and being first out the door tends to get noticed.
What happens next isn't clear from what's been reported so far — whether Uefa follows through on the legal threat, whether other nations follow Wales' lead, or whether Infantino's grip on the presidency is genuinely at risk. Those are the questions hanging over Fifa's corridors this week.
For a sport that likes to talk about itself as one big global family, this is a reminder that the family fights, too — over money, over power, and over who gets to decide how the game's competitions are run and sold.
— Compiled from reporting by BBC Sport.
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