The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has issued a statement alleging attempts to undermine the authority of its president, Gianni Infantino, according to infohub.kz.

This comes amid a scandal over the sale of World Cup rights. The statement reads: "It is increasingly evident that some individuals are making concerted and ongoing attempts to undermine FIFA and its president. Those who do not have the support of FIFA's member associations should not try to achieve through accusations, insinuations, or misinformation what they cannot achieve through FIFA's established democratic procedures."

The organization stressed that recent publications contained unsubstantiated allegations and false statements about FIFA and its president. "Assumptions and insinuations should not be presented as facts, and repeating an allegation does not make it true," FIFA said. It emphasized that if publications contain inaccurate or misleading information, the organization will directly and resolutely contest it.

"FIFA's responsibility is to its 211 member associations and to football worldwide. We will not allow ourselves to be distracted or diverted from the task of strengthening the organization, fulfilling our commitments to our member associations, and continuing to work to make football truly a global sport. The president and the administration remain fully focused on this mission and are more determined than ever to see it through," the statement said.

Earlier, FIFA had developed a project to sell the rights to the World Cups—men's, women's, and club—to private investors. In response, all members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) announced a boycott of FIFA tournaments until the initiative was fully abandoned. UEFA's position was supported by the confederations of the Americas and Asia. Among other things, they accused FIFA of a lack of transparency in forming the new commercial concept.

Amid the scandal, it became known that an advisor to the FIFA president was dismissed in protest. UEFA even developed a plan to hold its own version of the World Cup.

Later, FIFA abandoned the controversial plan to sell World Cup rights.

Recently, FIFA's leadership expressed support for Infantino and acknowledged mistakes in the World Cup rights sale project.