High-profile current and former players – including a representative from a Fifa advisory body – believe that “change is necessary” in the governing body’s leadership as pressure builds on its president Gianni Infantino.
Mikael Silvestre, the former Manchester United defender who forms part of Fifa’s Players’ Voice Panel, published a statement calling for reform at the top of Fifa on his X account on Monday, writing above it: “Enough is enough!”
The identical message was shared on social media platforms by other high-profile players, including England’s double European champion Lucy Bronze and France’s 1998 World Cup-winning midfielder Emmanuel Petit.
Infantino is facing calls to resign from his Uefa counterpart Aleksander Ceferin following a controversial proposal to sell stakes in a company created to run the World Cup to private investors.
Players have now started contributing their voices to the ongoing debate. The widely-shared statement declared that players “share the exact same concerns as the millions of fans around the world”.
It added: “Like them, we have watched the game we love drift away from its core values under Fifa’s current leadership.
“For too long we’ve seen major decisions taken without players being consulted or considered, and without any regard for the fans who sustain the sport.
“Change is necessary. Power has blurred the current leadership’s ability to distinguish between its own interests and what is best for football.”
Silvestre’s intervention is notable as it effectively comes from inside the Fifa structure, with the Players’ Voice Panel operating as a 16-member committee established by the governing body to monitor and advise on anti-racism initiatives.
The statement continued: “Recent events have made silence impossible. Enough is enough.
“We call on all stakeholders to step forward and help reshape the future of our sport.”
Uefa president Ceferin has ruled himself out of standing against Infantino for the Fifa role, but told The Rest Is Politics podcast that the Swiss official has two options.
“One option is that he realises that he doesn’t have the support, and that’s not only a political support of the ones who vote, but the political support of football community, the political support of fans, the political support of the players, former players, coaches.
“And the second option that he goes to to the elections in March, but in that case, I think he will have a candidate against him. I don’t know yet who.”
The current president of Concacaf, Victor Montagliani, has been highlighted by some commentators as a potential opposition candidate. Concacaf is the regional confederation representing member nations from North and Central America plus the Caribbean. Montagliani is also a Fifa vice-president.
Concacaf joined Uefa and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in opposing Infantino’s private investor proposal, with its presidents describing it as a “deception” in an open letter published earlier this month.
Infantino was present in the Caribbean over the weekend to attend a youth football tournament taking place in the Dominican Republic.
