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Gianni Infantino, the under-pressure FIFA president, has apologised for “mistakes” linked to his contentious World Cup sell-off proposal, but senior figures at world football’s governing body “reaffirm[ed] their full support” for him after a crisis meeting on Wednesday.

Infantino had been forced to drop the plan — which involved selling stakes in the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments to private investors — after a strong public backlash last week, with UEFA confirming it would boycott FIFA events if the proposal was approved.

On Tuesday, Jordan FA president Prince Ali bin Hussein accused Infantino of “blackmail” and, amid intense pressure with his position appearing to be at risk, the Swiss-Italian called an emergency meeting with FIFA’s management board in Morocco.

A letter issued by FIFA on Wednesday evening was signed by both Infantino and FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, despite the fact that Grafstrom is understood to have sent an email to staff on Tuesday in which he described Infantino’s proposal as “sad and reproachable”.

The letter presented a much more united position than that email had suggested and included the president admitting mistakes had been made in the way the sell-off plans were put forward — his first public apology over the scheme.

“We acknowledge mistakes were made in the process of the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE),” the letter said.

“It was certainly not the intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations to feel excluded from the process and it should have been handled differently. We acknowledge that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media.

“We sincerely apologise for these errors and commit to them not happening again. With this in mind, we will conduct a necessary review, and a report will be presented to the FIFA Council at its next scheduled meeting.”

However, any suggestion that Infantino might resign, or be pushed out by senior officials at the governing body, was swiftly shut down through a clear expression of support for the embattled president.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the FIFA Secretary General and the Management Board in attendance reaffirm their full support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as the only official elected by the 211 FIFA Member Associations,” the statement said.

“It was discussed and agreed at the meeting that the processes, communications and interactions between the FIFA President, the FIFA Secretary General and the Management Board that support the delivery of this vision can and should always be continuously improved in terms of their effectiveness and efficiency.

“We are fully confident that the outcomes of today's meeting will strengthen FIFA's governance, help restore confidence in the organisation and enable us to prepare for the major events and challenges ahead in a united and transparent manner while continuing our mission to develop the game around the world.”

The statement also said that attacks on FIFA’s integrity or good governance would not be accepted and appeared to suggest that, with the sell-off proposal now abandoned, the matter should effectively be put to rest.

”The proposal, which would have been subject to the approval of the FIFA Member Associations and the FIFA Council, is now off the table,” another part of the statement read. “With the project withdrawn, FIFA will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation.

“There are always lessons to be learned, and we will continue to improve our processes in light of this experience. In this instance, however, it is important to stress that, although mistakes were made, everything that was done, was done in full compliance with the FIFA regulatory framework.”

Infantino is still facing heavy criticism from outside FIFA, however, with several countries having withdrawn support for his presidency ahead of the election in March 2027.

Real Madrid and Portugal legend Luis Figo, who works as an adviser to UEFA, criticised Infantino on Wednesday and urged him to resign, saying: “I could write 10,000 words on the problems at FIFA. But the solution needs only three: Infantino must go.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also said he no longer has confidence in Infantino, explaining that he believed the FIFA president had committed a “fatal” failure of governance by not consulting senior advisers. “Certainly I don’t have confidence in Mr Infantino,” said Carney, who had appeared alongside Infantino at several events during the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.