{"id":1013133,"date":"2026-08-20T16:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1013133\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:48:16","slug":"soccer-fans-launch-global-petition-urging-fifas-infantino-to-resign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1013133\/","title":{"rendered":"Soccer fans launch global petition urging FIFA’s Infantino to resign"},"content":{"rendered":"

GENEVA (AP) \u2014 A collection of soccer fan groups from around the world launched a petition Thursday calling for Gianni Infantino to resign as FIFA president after he tried to sell future World Cup profits<\/a> to private investors.<\/p>\n

The petition with the hashtag InfantinOut also calls for FIFA \u201cto be rebuilt so that the current debacle can never happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shameful attempt by one individual \u2014 the FIFA President himself \u2014 to sell off the World Cup to private investors exposed a betrayal football will never forget,\u201d the petition said<\/a> about Infantino\u2019s plan for a commercial spinoff, which he dropped amid a furious backlash.<\/p>\n

The fan groups include Football Supporters Europe, Football Supporters Africa and, in North America, the Independent Supporters Council, plus about 40 national fan groups worldwide.<\/p>\n

Infantino has resisted calls to leave office despite European soccer body UEFA saying it has no confidence in him<\/a>. He has also been criticized by the leadership of North America\u2019s CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation.<\/p>\n

Some of FIFA\u2019s 211 member federations are supporting Infantino<\/a>, including 2030 World Cup co-host Morocco as well as Qatar, where he lived before the emirate hosted the 2022 World Cup, and Lebanon, which gave him citizenship<\/a> this year. Saudi Arabia, the 2034 host<\/a>, has not publicly backed Infantino despite his close political ties to the kingdom.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGianni Infantino has demonstrated a profound failure of leadership, incompatible with democratic governance,\u201d the fan petition states. \u201cThe concentration of power around the FIFA Presidency, combined with opaque decision-making, personality cult clientelism, and zero accountability has destroyed any remaining trust in the world governing body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the credibility of FIFA \u2014 and for the future of the game \u2014 he must resign,\u201d the petition adds.<\/p>\n

FIFA was approached for comment about the petition.<\/p>\n

Fan anger at World Cup ticket prices<\/p>\n

The petition also cites Infantino\u2019s past support for projects that outraged fans, including the failed European Super League project<\/a>, pushing to hold World Cups every two years<\/a> that was resisted and the \u201cextortionate ticketing policy at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIFA and Infantino did not consult with fan groups before setting record ticket prices<\/a> for the 104-game tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, that provoked anger and led to some tickets being sold for $60<\/a> to the most loyal fans of each of the 48 teams.<\/p>\n

Football Supporters Europe is the official liaison for fans with UEFA and advises on ticket prices for European Championships and club cup finals<\/a> like the Champions League.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See AP\u2019s full soccer coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENEVA (AP) \u2014 A collection of soccer fan groups from around the world launched a petition Thursday calling…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1013134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[10],"tags":[2034,6061,6072,587,221,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1013133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-gianni-infantino","tag-north-america","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117128862523352690","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1013133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1013134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1013133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1013133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1013133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}