FIFA President Gianni Infantino has "called for an emergency meeting of the leading officials in international soccer" to address a $25B rights offer from an investment group that could "radically change some of the biggest competitions in the sport," according to Tariq Panja of the N.Y. TIMES. Infantino called for the special meeting "as soon as this week to discuss new details of the offer for control of a new quadrennial 24-team club tournament" and a "proposed league for national teams." The full FIFA Council is "expected to address the offer during an extraordinary meeting in early May." The next "scheduled meeting for that group had been set for June," days before the World Cup kicks off in Russia. Emergency meetings are "rare and reserved for the most vital matters." The last time FIFA "called its top board for an unscheduled meeting" was in '15, after several board members were " arrested in a dawn raid on a luxury Zurich hotel ." Infantino with the meeting wants to "persuade skeptical officials to allow him to forge ahead with negotiations" on the proposed $25B deal. But he also "wants to calm some members who have grown angry over what they see as Infantino’s aggressive pursuit of a deal that would lead to the biggest restructuring in soccer in several decades" ( N.Y. TIMES, 4/24 ).
NOT SO FAST : The AP's Graham Dunbar noted Infantino's call for an emergency meeting came after his "hosting of invited officials from some of Europe's top clubs" on Friday. The European Club Association has "strongly opposed FIFA's hope for a four-yearly club tournament" starting in '21, which "could rival the UEFA-organized Champions League." UEFA has also been "skeptical of the Club World Cup expansion plan, and last year also proposed a Global Nations League to develop from its European version which kicks off in September" ( AP, 4/23 ).
