DFB President Bernd Neuendorf has distanced himself from FIFA boss Gianni Infantino more clearly than ever before and wants to bring down his “system”, he told German media.
“It is important that this Infantino system is also brought to an end,” Neuendorf told RTL/ntv, emphasising that this is even “absolutely necessary.”
Neuendorf attended the UEFA Executive Committee and FIFA Council meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece, and continued to emphasise Germany’s scepticism towards a new Infantino presidency.
“The relationship of trust with Gianni Infantino, with this FIFA leadership, is of course shattered.”
The FIFA president is seeking another term in office despite his spectacularly failed World Cup investor plan and massive criticism from parts of the football world, with the election set for March.
Among others, UEFA, led by President Aleksander Ceferin, is calling for Infantino’s resignation and preparing to file a criminal complaint against him in Switzerland. The Europeans’ first goal is to force Infantino to step down before his planned re-election.
Ceferin is considered Infantino’s fiercest adversary
REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis
UEFA likely to nominate a rival candidate
Ten European football associations have already officially withdrawn their support for him, most recently France and Austria. The German Football Association (DFB) has not yet done so, but Neuendorf has now made his position very clear and confirmed in July that the FA would not sign a letter of support provided by FIFA.
Greek FA president Makis Gagatsis reaffirmed on Thursday that Infantino cannot count on the support of EPO: “We saw things happen at the ‌World Cup that are not acceptable to football public opinion. Then… came ‌a programme to sell World Cup rights and we are clearly against ‌it, so we withdrew our support of the FIFA president.”
According to UEFA, they are currently speaking with other member associations to “organise majorities” against Infantino. In addition, they are examining “how we can sustainably change this FIFA system.”
UEFA is very likely to put forward a rival candidate before the November 18 deadline.
