Embattled Fifa chief Gianni Infantino holds emergency talks in Morocco with top officials

President Gianni Infantino held emergency talks with other Fifa directors in Morocco on Wednesday, a source told AFP, amid a wave of criticism over his now shelved plan to open the World Cup to private investment.

Infantino has come under increasing pressure, even from within Fifa, over his handling of the proposal, and calls for him to step down have grown since he abandoned it last Saturday.

One of those believed to be at the meeting is Fifa’s secretary general, Mattias Grafstrom, whose internal email to staff criticising the plan was leaked on Tuesday.

Infantino, a 56-year-old Swiss lawyer – who is holding the meeting in Fifa’s Africa regional office in Sale close to Rabat – was in Morocco to celebrate last week’s Feast of the Enthronement.

Morocco is to co-host the 2030 World Cup and Moroccan football chief Fouzi Lekjaa is one of the few to have publicly supported Infantino since the humiliating climbdown.

Lekjaa last Saturday praised his “wise” move to scrap the plan in the interests of “unity and cohesion”.

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