By Wa Lone
TORONTO, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday that he did not have confidence in FIFA President Gianni Infantino over the handling of his proposal to sell off commercial rights to the soccer World Cup.
Infantino was holding a crisis meeting with top FIFA officials in Morocco on Wednesday after the collapse of the proposal triggered fresh criticism ahead of his bid for a fourth term at next year’s FIFA Congress in March.
Some of Infantino’s FIFA colleagues have joined in the furore, with Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom calling the saga a “sad and reproachable series of events,” while senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned last week.
“The idea that proper governance is not to disclose to your closest advisers, your chief operating officer, your fellow board members something of consequence … that’s fatal, should be fatal, and you lose confidence in that individual,” Carney told reporters in Toronto.
“Certainly I don’t have confidence in Mr. Infantino after this point, given what transpired, and given the nature of what transpired.”
Canada served as a co-host for the World Cup that concluded last month, drawing in robust crowds for matches in Toronto and Vancouver, along with the U.S. and Mexico.
North American football chief and Canadian businessman Victor Montagliani has emerged as a possible candidate to replace Infantino.
“(Montagliani is a) credit to Canada, credit to football. Done a very good job in his role at CONCACAF,” said Carney. “He’s someone I know well and have tremendous respect for.”
(Reporting by Wa Lone in Toronto and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Mark Porter and Pritha Sarkar)
