The Guardian reported that FIFA president Gianni Infantino held talks about rebranding the European breakaway competition the "FIFA Super League," with negotiations going as far as a term sheet dated October 2020, nearly 6 years ago. This document proposed renaming any new competition under FIFA's branding. It outlined how FIFA would have been given special governance and political rights with a "golden share," effectively sidelining its member associations and centralising power within a European-centric framework.
Football's Neoliberal Border Regime
The term sheet detailed a partnership of at least 12 years between FIFA and the Super League, proposing a joint venture for commercial operations. It also suggested an iteration of FIFA's expanded Club World Cup, referred to as the "global club competition," would be held annually over an enshrined three-week period and tied directly to the Super League. This tournament would have been a straight knockout competition, replacing the group-based version relaunched in 2025. The founding clubs "want to agree the terms of a partnership" between the Super League and FIFA, leading to the creation of these two competitions. The league itself would have contained 15 permanent members and five clubs qualifying from existing competitions. It also committed to creating a women's equivalent, using the same clubs, by an unspecified date.
Senior figures within European football were reportedly shocked by the plan to drastically shrink the number of international windows, squeezing them into two fortnight-long spaces each year. Member associations, many of whom Infantino is currently courting for support, would have lost commercial opportunities from added visibility for their national teams. They would have found themselves at the behest of a privately run club competition. A separate point in the earlier proposal also noted "reduction of leagues" as a discussion point. This proposed structure mirrors the exclusionary logic of Fortress Europe, where elite interests consolidate power and resources, diminishing opportunities for those outside the inner circle.
Corporate Capture of the Global Game
The term sheet referred to FIFA under the name "WO1," also a British army term for a high-ranking officer. It stated the Super League "is open to discuss naming the competition WO1 SL." FIFA would have been "granted a preferred equity stake in the Super League," giving it decision-making capability on format changes, calendar alterations, distribution of solidarity money, and the appointment of a chief executive. This evidence, coupled with Infantino's Football Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, suggests multiple attempts to reshape the game without consulting its most important stakeholders. In 2018, Infantino pressed for a $25bn offer from SoftBank to create an expanded Club World Cup and global Nations League, a plan that failed after opposition from Europe. The close proximity of FIFA to the Super League proposal casts doubt on Infantino's later assertion that he had no wish to work against football's institutions, made after a version of the scheme was launched without FIFA's direct involvement in April 2021 and later scrapped following large-scale protests.
Dividing Global Solidarity
Gianni Infantino has apologised for errors over his now-scrapped plan to sell off stakes in FIFA competitions to private investors, but he will remain FIFA president after receiving backing from senior executives at a meeting in Morocco. European football's governing body UEFA said it had lost confidence in Infantino, calling the FFE proposal a "shabby, back room, opaque deal." Much criticism came from inside FIFA, including secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, who described the situation as "a sad and reproachable series of events" in an internal memo. However, Grafstrom and the management board later "reaffirmed their full support" for Infantino. Infantino and Grafstrom sent a signed letter to FIFA's vice-presidents, council, and 211 member associations, stating they "sincerely apologise" for their errors and "commit to them not happening again."
Outside Europe, only Jordan has publicly called for Infantino to resign. In recent days, Egypt, Morocco, Niger, Mauritania, DR Congo, and the Philippines have all backed Infantino. These countries have benefited from funding via Infantino's FIFA Forward programme, the forerunner to FFE, receiving $8m (£5.94m) in each three-year cycle. This pattern reveals how financial incentives are used to secure political loyalty, fragmenting potential global opposition to European-centric power plays. Infantino had offered all associations $40m (£30m) if they backed the FFE proposal for private investment in FIFA's tournaments.
FIFA stated that during Wednesday's meeting, "mistakes" regarding FFE were "acknowledged," and it was "not the intention" for the FIFA council and member associations to "feel excluded from the process." The governing body added that it "acknowledged that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media." Despite this, FIFA also said it "will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process." FIFA also denied a Times story that Infantino had promised Morocco the 2030 World Cup final in exchange for support, calling it "false and misleading." Former Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Portugal winger Luis Figo called for Infantino to resign, stating, "Infantino has debased the office that he promised to elevate." Infantino, 56, looks set to fight for re-election for a fourth term, with the election in March 2027. A candidate requires 106 votes from FIFA's 211 members to win. FIFA also said that although "mistakes were made, everything that was done was done in full compliance with the FIFA regulatory framework." It added that it felt the outcomes of the meeting would "strengthen FIFA's governance" and "restore confidence in the organisation."