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France World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit has launched a fierce criticism of FIFA’s present condition, saying the governing body needs a complete shake-up at the top. The former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder is among a number of well-known figures who have signed an open letter condemning the conduct of president Gianni Infantino and other senior officials.

A growing push for change

The football world has been shaken by the release of an open letter signed by a group of former international stars, including Mikael Silvestre, Olivier Dacourt and Lucy Bronze. The group has united to voice serious concerns about how the game is being governed, criticising the way authority is currently being used at the highest level of the sport.

Speaking on RMC’s Rothen s’enflamme, the 1998 World Cup winner explained how he became involved and pointed to the specific incidents that sparked this public reaction. “It was Silvestre who contacted me a few days ago by message to ask me if I agreed to put my name on a list of former players that followed what had happened once again during the World Cup in the United States, notably the Infantino-Trump episode,” Petit said. The former midfielder feels the current leadership has gone off course, adding that “change is necessary.”

Doubts over FIFA’s future

Even though he joined the protest, Petit remains highly doubtful that a letter alone can break the deeply rooted power system in Zurich. He accepted that the message matters in terms of creating awareness, but suggested it may still fall short of forcing those in charge to act. “It’s a wasted effort. It’s just to awaken,” the Frenchman said during his appearance on air.

He also made it clear that the protest is not an attack on every person working inside the federation, but a direct criticism of certain individuals at the top who shape policy and direction. “The text that we published is not a plea against the people who work within FIFA. It concerns certain people. There are good people at FIFA.”

More than just a new face

The former France international believes the sport requires much more than simply putting a different person in the president’s chair; in his view, FIFA needs a deep reform of the way it operates. He warned that removing one leader and replacing him with another would achieve little if the wider culture remains unchanged.

“We must propose concrete things. Elections are coming. If you kick out Infantino or put someone else in, the way it works will never change. And FIFA’s way of functioning must change on certain specific points,” he insisted, while calling for a more democratic approach to the running of the global game.

Reclaiming the common good

The former star said he was surprised that the group’s letter had created such a major media reaction, but he hopes the attention will eventually bring real changes to the way football is administered.

In his final comments on the issue, Petit spoke about the need for FIFA to return to democratic values. “I don’t hold the truth, but it goes in a democratic direction. Today, we are very, very far from it. I find that currently, we are in the appropriation, precisely, of a common good for personal ends. And we are going more and more in that direction and not just in football,” he concluded.