{"id":2238,"date":"2026-08-06T14:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T14:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=2238"},"modified":"2026-08-06T14:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T14:00:18","slug":"uefa-vice-president-seeks-custodian-of-%e2%81%a0sport-after-fifa-infantino-furore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asianewscast.com\/?p=2238","title":{"rendered":"UEFA vice president seeks \u2018custodian of \u2060sport\u2019 after FIFA-Infantino furore"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__divider\">\n<div class=\"listen-to-article\"><button class=\"listen-to-article__button\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><title>Listen<\/title>Listen (2 mins)<\/button><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share__update-reading-list-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"update-reading-list\">\n<p class=\"update-reading-list__button-text\">Save<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div 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href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=UEFA%20vice%20president%20seeks%20%E2%80%98custodian%20of%20%E2%81%A0sport%E2%80%99%20after%20FIFA-Infantino%20furore&amp;source=sharethiscom&amp;related=sharethis&amp;via=AJEnglish&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.news%2Fc7zxlg\"><title>x<\/title><\/a><a class=\"rich-share__social-link row u-hidden--desktop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"Share on Whatsapp\" href=\"\/\/send?text=https%3A%2F%2Faje.news%2Fc7zxlg\"><title>whatsapp-stroke<\/title><\/a><a class=\"rich-share__social-link row copylink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"Copy link\" href=\"https:\/\/aje.news\/c7zxlg\"><title>copylink<\/title><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"google-preferred-source\"><button class=\"google-preferred-source__button\" aria-label=\"Add Al Jazeera on Google\" data-testid=\"google-preferred-source-button\"><title>google<\/title><span class=\"google-preferred-source__text\">Add Al Jazeera on Google<\/span><\/button><button aria-label=\"See more of Al Jazeera\u2019s trusted journalism by adding us as a preferred source on Google.\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><title>info<\/title><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-featured__media\">\n<figure class=\"article-featured-image\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2024-02-08T102818Z_626368037_UP1EK280T335I_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-UEFA-1786017991.jpg?resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Deputy chair of the UEFA Women&apos;s Football Committee Laura McAllister during the UEFA congress\"><\/div><figcaption>Laura McAllister has served as UEFA&#8217;s vice president since 2019 [File: Gonzalo Fuentes\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-info m--t-20 m--desktop-b-30 m--b-mobile-20\">\n<div class=\"byline byline--no-avatars\">\n<div class=\"byline-content\">\n<div class=\"contributors-list contributors-list--byline\"><span class=\"contributors-list__by-prefix\">By <\/span>Reuters<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<div class=\"date-simple\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 6 Aug 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">6 Aug 2026<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wysiwyg wysiwyg--all-content\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p>UEFA Vice President Laura McAllister says any future FIFA president should be a \u201ccustodian of \u2060the sport\u201d capable of uniting world football as pressure grows on the embattled current chief, Gianni Infantino, after his aborted World Cup investment plan.<\/p>\n<p>After meeting in Rabat on Wednesday, FIFA\u2019s leadership <a href=\"\/sports\/2026\/8\/5\/fifa-pledges-to-defend-infantino-after-world-cup-rights-plan-collapses\">reaffirmed support \u2060for Infantino<\/a>, apologised to the world football governing body\u2019s 211 member associations for mistakes surrounding the World Cup investment plan and promised a review of the processes that triggered a fierce backlash from national federations.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"more-on__list\">\n<li class=\"more-on__article\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list 1 of 3<\/span><a class=\"more-on__link\" href=\"\/sports\/2026\/8\/4\/uefas-threatened-legal-action-against-infantino-and-fifa-what-we-know\">UEFA\u2019s threatened legal action against Infantino and FIFA: What we know<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"more-on__article\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list 2 of 3<\/span><a class=\"more-on__link\" href=\"\/sports\/2026\/8\/4\/ex-arsenal-boss-wenger-was-not-aware-of-infantinos-fifa-plan\">Ex-Arsenal boss Wenger was \u2018not aware\u2019 of Infantino\u2019s FIFA plan<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"more-on__article\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list 3 of 3<\/span><a class=\"more-on__link\" href=\"\/sports\/2026\/8\/4\/uefa-confirm-legal-letter-served-to-fifa-after-infantino-world-cup-plan\">UEFA confirms legal letter served to FIFA after Infantino\u2019s World Cup plan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>FIFA\u2019s attempt to draw a line under the biggest crisis of Infantino\u2019s presidency, however, is unlikely to end scrutiny of the governing body\u2019s \u200cleadership and governance before the March presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>McAllister said finding a credible challenger to Infantino would be difficult because any candidate would need support from across football\u2019s global membership, not just Europe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not as easy as people might think. The right candidate has to also have the right level of support,\u201d McAllister said in an interview with the broadcaster Deutsche Welle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s so much politics around this. There\u2019s such an imperative to get a candidate who could unite the whole world of \u2060football, not just Europe in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former Wales women\u2019s captain \u2060called for sweeping governance reforms to modernise football\u2019s leadership structures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt requires a really fundamental change in the culture of how the leadership of football operates, I believe, and that we really drive forward the modernisation of the game to make sure \u2060that football isn\u2019t run by fiefdoms or by individuals, that it\u2019s democratically run,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"container--ads in-article-ads\">\n<div class=\"ads\"><span class=\"ads__title\"> Advertisement <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>McAllister\u2019s comments came amid mounting scrutiny of Infantino after he \u2060withdrew plans to create a commercial subsidiary and sell a stake \u2060in future World Cup revenues to outside investors.<\/p>\n<p>McAllister told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that any transition in FIFA leadership would need to be accompanied by a return to what she sees as the game\u2019s core values \u200cwith football governed in the interests of the sport rather than political or commercial interests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe game is there for everybody, from grassroots to elite,\u201d she said in an interview. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t belong to any \u200cone \u200cof those constituents. It\u2019s as much for girls as it is for boys. It should reach every corner of the world, in the poorest countries as well as the globally successful ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ListenListen (2 mins) Save Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share facebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylink googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Laura McAllister has served as UEFA&#8217;s vice president since 2019 [File: Gonzalo Fuentes\/Reuters By Reuters Published On 6 Aug 20266 Aug 2026 UEFA Vice President Laura McAllister says any future FIFA president should be a \u201ccustodian [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UEFA vice president seeks \u2018custodian of \u2060sport\u2019 after FIFA-Infantino furore - 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