FIFA boss to ask for vote on new soccer tournaments despite opposition

Football

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is expected to put his controversial plans for two new international soccer tournaments to a vote at Friday’s meeting of the body’s ruling council.

A spokesman for the governing body revealed this to Reuters on Wednesday.

However, with the World Leagues Forum, which represents 38 professional leagues, asking Infantino last week not to go for a vote and strong opposition within Europe, Friday’s FIFA council meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, could cause a major split.

Infantino revealed his plans in May for a new Global Nations League and a revamped Club World Cup which he says are backed by a ‘solid and serious’ group of investors willing to spend $25 billion over a 12-year cycle starting in 2021.

The European Leagues, which includes the Premier League, Bundesliga and La Liga, and European football’s governing body UEFA are among several organisations unwilling to endorse the plans at this stage.

The new competitions and related commercial strategy feature on the agenda for the meeting and the FIFA spokesman told Reuters that there will be votes held on the proposals.

Reuters