Fifa president Gianni Infantino held crisis talks with senior officials in Rabat on Wednesday, 5 August 2026, as pressure mounted over his plans to sell off a chunk of the World Cup and, with it, his own political future.

The meeting, first reported by the Press Association and picked up by ESPN and Sky Sports, brought together Fifa's general secretary Mattias Grafström and chief legal officer Emilio García Silvero. According to the Spanish newspaper AS, the gathering was designed to "clarify positions" inside the organisation and map out a campaign strategy to win back support ahead of the next presidential vote, scheduled for Fifa's congress in Rabat in March 2027.

The trigger is the Fifa Forward Enterprise — a proposal to sell 21% of the World Cup itself, the biggest single sporting event on the planet. The plan has provoked a rebellion led by Uefa, European football's governing body, and Concacaf, its counterpart for North and Central America and the Caribbean. Neither the Confederation of African Football (Caf) nor Conmebol, which looks after South America, has joined that revolt. That gap between Europe's anger and the rest of the world's silence is what sent Infantino on a diplomatic sprint through Africa and South America.

Infantino has spent the past week in Morocco, arriving for Throne Day celebrations marking the 27th anniversary of King Mohammed VI's accession. On Wednesday evening he appeared alongside Grafström at a Women's African Cup of Nations match at the Al Madina Stadium in Rabat — a public show of unity that came just one day after Grafström himself described the botched Forward Enterprise as a "sad and reproachable series of events" in an email to Fifa staff, according to The Guardian.

The secretary general's words landing the same week as the president's charm offensive tells you how fractured the organisation is behind closed doors. Infantino is simultaneously fighting fires at headquarters and wooing allies abroad.

Morocco is central to the strategy. The country will co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal — a tournament Infantino personally announced — and he reportedly hopes it can act as a bridge to galvanise backing for him across the Middle East. The Times reported that Infantino offered Morocco a guarantee to stage the 2030 World Cup final in exchange for their help lobbying other nations. Fifa flatly denied that claim, calling it "false and misleading" and insisting no decision on the final's location has been made.

From Rabat, Infantino plans to fly to Colombia on Thursday, 6 August, to attend the inauguration of Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, in Cali. South American officials have been among the loudest voices backing Infantino's push to expand the World Cup to 64 teams for 2030 — a rapid acceleration of a tournament that, as of now, is already set to grow to 48 teams.

The Asian Football Confederation does not vote as a bloc, meaning Infantino would need to lobby individual nations one by one if Uefa and Concacaf find a candidate willing to stand against him in March. That is the quiet calculation behind the travel: every handshake, every stadium appearance, every Throne Day reception is a brick in the wall between Infantino and a challenger.

For fans, the rows inside Fifa's boardroom can feel a long way from the football on the pitch. But they shape the game's biggest stage — who hosts it, how many teams take part, and who controls the billions the tournament generates. The next seven months will decide whether the man who promised to grow the game beyond anyone's imagination gets to keep running it.