Gianni Infantino 'could just survive' as UEFA 'overplay their hand': 'I'm seeing signs...'
Gianni Infantino may yet keep his position as FIFA president despite the recent outcry towards him.
That is according to former Everton chief executive and ex-Premier League board member Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Swiss-born businessman could survive in his role, despite being "badly wounded" in his position.
Infantino's plan to sell off shares in the World Cup to private investment groups has blown up in his face, and has prompted several countries to withdraw their support for his re-election.
UEFA have already made it clear that they have lost confidence in Infantino, and are working to try and overthrow him, although Wyness believes that the European governing body are starting to "overplay their hand."
Several European nations recently withdrew their support for Infantino, including both England and Wales, but the stream of countries siding against him has slowed somewhat.
Infantino has since received fresh backing from several nations in the African and Asian confederations, plus the support of World Cup finalists Argentina.
Gianni Infantino tide may be turning
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that there are signs that the tide may slowly be turning in Infantino's favour once again.
The Scottish businessman pointed to the increasing number of nations coming out in support of the FIFA chief as evidence that he could yet "survive" in his role for another term.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained that a "wounded" Infantino would spell trouble for the footballing world.
"We spoke specifically about the UEFA situation last week, and I was pretty strong in saying I didn't think it would come to the World Cup boycott, and obviously that whole thing has collapsed," he said.
"Of course, here we are with Infantino now scrapping for his existence in FIFA. UEFA may be starting to overplay their hand in my view on this one.
"I think Infantino is badly wounded and badly hurt, but I'm starting to see some signs of clubs giving letters of support. And while Wales and England have said they are going to withdraw their letters, you're not seeing a flood of these sorts of things.
"He may well survive, but greatly wounded, there's no doubt about it. And you know a wounded Infantino isn't great for football.
"The whole (Donald) Trump connection and the whole thing was starting to get ridiculous, and I get why people had to slap him across the wrists. But this is a bit more than a slap across the wrists; this is him fighting for survival now. But there is a scenario where he could just survive."
Ex-FIFA official reveals what's next for Infantino
Former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee Keith Hackett told Football Insider earlier this week that UEFA and CONCACAF are the crucial groups when it comes to overthrowing Infantino.
The former official made it clear that their collective stances against the FIFA president should be enough for an "extraordinary meeting of the federations" to be called, in order to determine their next plan of action.
Hackett noted that the scenario would likely leave Infantino with three months to prepare his defence, before a final decision was made over his future.
The chief is under ever-increasing pressure from UEFA at the moment, but he has continued to hold firm so far.