The 19-word message in Gianni Infantino’s delusional letter that shows Fifa refuses to learn

Confidence in Fifa is being restored. How do we know? Because Fifa has told us. And Fifa’s integrity is such that attacks on it cannot be tolerated... Fifa, in between plotting to sell off the World Cup, has said it wasn’t doing that. Not that many people in Fifa knew for sure, as Fifa didn’t bother consulting them.

But then, as Fifa said a statement about a “constructive and positive meeting held in Rabat, Morocco”, its only official elected by the 211 member associations is the president. Although, admittedly, many of those associations are calling for Gianni Infantino to go and plenty of others came out in opposition to what – according to the governing body, anyway – was called the “Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal”.

And now that is off the table, again in Fifa’s words, a statement that tested the boundaries of Orwellian doublespeak, the only remaining issues, in Fifa’s world, are the horrible “attacks” on it.

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Gianni Infantino showed minimal remorse in his letter after the Fifa crisis meeting (Getty Images)

A global sport was plunged into crisis by one man, Infantino, who either had an idea he forgot to fully communicate with virtually everyone – Fifa’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, its chief of global football development Arsene Wenger, the various confederations, clubs, national associations, players, fans... – or tried to stage a coup against the sport as a whole.

But now Fifa have met, Infantino and Mattias Grafstrom, the secretary general, have released a joint letter and everyone can be reassured, thanks to these 19 words that highlight the depth of the delusion. “Fifa’s top management is fully confident that the outcomes of today’s meeting will help restore confidence in the organisation,” they said.

And why wouldn’t it? Infantino wants to stay in charge and either he is the most divisive man in football or he has succeeded in uniting vast numbers of people and contrasting interests against him. “Mistakes made were acknowledged,” came the message otherwise littered with credibility-defying optimism.

Infantino’s letter was littered with credibility-defying optimism (PA Wire)

He appeared to take a leaf out of the Donald Trump playbook by portraying himself as the victim of unfair attacks (PA)

“It was agreed that it was not the intention for the Fifa council and Fifa member associations to feel excluded from the process,” read the closest thing to a mea culpa. In which case, then, why exclude them? A scheme of such secrecy that only members of the Kushner family were informed was sprung upon the footballing world; FAs who were going to vote for it would get more funds from Fifa than those who would not, which struck some as tantamount to bribery; not that the word crops up in Infantino’s letter.

Still, he has pledged there will be no repeat and that a review will be conducted; but presumably the Infantino faction of Fifa will conduct the review and present the conclusions it is supposed to present.

Though that may be another unfair assault on the good names of Infantino and Fifa; the touchiness that was apparent in the 56-year-old’s Instagram posts appears to have extended to an entire organisation.

“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,” came one of the more delusional sentences. Entirely coincidentally, Donald Trump portrays himself as the victim of unfair attacks; so Fifa did too.

Infantino (centre) and Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafstrom (left) attended a women’s AFCON match together after the crisis meeting in Rabat (AP)

It is, of course, too late to safeguard a reputation dragged into the mud by the Infantino regime; by quashing suspensions to Cristiano Ronaldo and Folarin Balogun, by twisting the rules to put Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in the Club World Cup, by letting the United States ban Somali referee Omar Artan from entering the country, by cosying up to Trump, by creating a peace prize to give to a man who then started an illegal war.

Fifa became a byword for greed; it was notable in the United States that ordinary Americans blamed Fifa by name for the sky-high ticket prices. They did not stand for impartiality; not when preferential treatment was given to the Trump administration and decision-making seemed influenced by the White House. They did not represent the global game; not when, as the strategy of selling off the World Cup showed, they tried to do so without most of it knowing.

If Fifa is serious about restoring its reputation, it requires more honesty and new leadership. The latest dispatch from Infantino world offered none of that.