RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesGerman top football official Alexander Wehrle has accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of a "lordly" leadership style and wants him ousted before he may destroy the game.
“I hope that one continental confederation or another finally wakes up now, because he’s no longer taking anyone along with him," Wehrle told broadcasters RTL/Sky.
"He’s not even bringing the FIFA Council along anymore; instead, he’s making decisions in a lordly manner, as if he alone could decide for the whole world."
FIFA announced this week it planned to generate billions of dollars of additional income by selling a part of their commercial rights in tournaments including the World Cup to private investors.
The governing body reportedly also set a deadline for members to endorse the plan and be eligible for $40 million.
Europe's UEFA has threatened to boycott all FIFA events if FIFA does not shelve the plans which it unanimously condemned. The CONCACAF confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean also opposes the FIFA plan.
Wehrle, the CEO of Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart and chairman of the supervisory board at the German Football Federation (DFB), said that Infantino lacked sensitivity.
"Has Gianni Infantino ever really played football professionally? I think in the fifth division in Switzerland. And has he ever stood in the supporters’ section? Does he actually know what football means? Football as a game, this unifying element,” Wehrle said.
The 51-year-old said he would like to see a FIFA without Infantino as president because the plan to generate even more billions for the world governing body “makes no sense.
"I’m genuinely concerned that a single man could destroy world football,” Wehrle said.
Infantino has led FIFA since 2016 and plans to seek election for a final four-year term next year. He is so far unopposed and has big support from many countries, but the investor affair may change this even though he is defending it.
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