By our reporter 25.8.2026
Some former and active players are calling for a leadership change in the boardroom of the world football governing body FIFA.
This follows FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s botched attempt to sell off football stakes to a private concern headed by an in-law of the US President Donald Trump. Infantino was accused of undercutting member federations while negotiating the deal.
There have been calls for Infantino to resign but he appears to have dug in and strengthened his hands with the sacking of FIFA chief operations officer Kevin Lamour who joined others to question his decision to sell football stakes to private concerns.
Former French and Manchester United defender Mikaël Silvestre, a member of FIFA’s “Players’ Voice” committee, issued a statement on X titled “Enough is enough.”
The statement received support from several former football stars, including former England international Lucy Bronze, France’s 1998 World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit and former England goalkeeper David James.
“We have watched the game we love move away from its core values under the current FIFA leadership,” the statement said.
But former Cameroon striker and now head of the Cameroonian federation FECAFOOT, Samuel Eto’o disagreed
“I don’t think President Gianni Infantino has done anything wrong. I think the timing of all of this is because there is an election coming and Gianni Infantino is standing. All of this has happened because there is an election coming. That’s all there is,” Eto’o told CNN in an interview.
“President Gianni Infantino has changed football. He has given opportunities to nations that did not have those opportunities to take part in the most beautiful tournament, the World Cup,” the former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker noted.
“He has helped our continent. He has helped our federations to develop much more quickly, and we need to acknowledge that. We need to accept and recognise what he has done, and we should support him for everything he has done up to now.”
European, North American and Asian federations are championing the call for Infantino to resign, while Africa’s CAF has thrown its weight behind Infantino.
South America and Oceania have so far been silent.