Souness and Collins: 'Infantino shouldn't survive this'

Two Scotland greats have both agreed that under-fire Gianni Infantino’s position as FIFA president is untenable.

Graeme Souness and John Collins told STV Sport that “Infantino should 100% go” over FIFA’s scrapped World Cup investment plan.

Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup drew widespread criticism, with UEFA threatening that their members would boycott the tournament going forward.

Just days later, FIFA scrapped the proposal, but Infantino is still facing increasing pressure over his role as president, with Wales becoming the first nation to withdraw support for his re-election bid, scheduled for March.

Souness and Collins – who were on opposing sides of the Old Firm divide in their playing and managerial careers – have both agreed that Infantino should step down.

Former Rangers hero Souness said he was “surprised” to hear Infantino’s plan.

“I don’t think anyone saw that coming”, he told STV Sport.

“Even other associations throughout the world didn’t see that coming. So, it was a shock.

“But I’m not surprised the way it’s turned out, not in the slightest. This is a man who gave a peace prize to someone who two weeks later went and started a war. A genius.”

Souness said he expects Infantino to survive the bid to oust him, which would require 43 out of the 211 member associations to call for a vote of no confidence.

“My understanding of how the system works is that he can. He shouldn’t”, Souness added.

“Because he’s operating behind closed doors, trying to come up with a deal that would have enriched him beyond all imagination.”

In a statement, world football’s governing body said Infantino retains the full support of the general secretary and the management board.

Collins has called on the FIFA president to step down STV News

Former Celtic and Scotland hero, John Collins, has agreed with Souness, saying that Infantino should “100 per cent” resign.

“The way he’s behaved, treated fans – I’m absolutely dismayed with what he’s done. From the draw, to the peace prize, to Donald Trump”, Collins told STV Sport.

“Changing the rules for Balogun, the American player. Half-time breaks, half an hour in the cup final, no respect for the manager or coaches.

“It’s all about money, all about him, his rules. I think it’s time for him to go.”

Infantino held a crisis meeting with FIFA’s management board in Morocco on Wednesday following more than a week of calls for him to quit over his plan to sell stakes in a company which would manage the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments to private investors.

The meeting in Rabat concluded with those executives giving him their backing and recognising Infantino was “the only official elected by the 211 FIFA member associations”.

FIFA said “mistakes were acknowledged” at Wednesday’s meeting around how the plans for the creation of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) company were developed. The most controversial aspect of the plan was to sell a 20% stake in FFE to private investors.

“It was agreed that it was not the intention for the FIFA Council and FIFA member associations to feel excluded from the process and that the process should have been handled differently,” the FIFA statement on Wednesday continued.

“It was further acknowledged that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to the media.”

The statement promised a review would take place, with a report to be presented at the next FIFA Council meeting. However, it also insisted “everything that was done was done in full compliance with the FIFA regulatory framework”.

The statement said: “With the project withdrawn, it was agreed that 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.”