World Cup winners demand Infantino step down as FIFA president

A group of internationally renowned former players, including several World Cup winners, has gone public with a call for new leadership at FIFA. The spark behind this open protest is president Gianni Infantino's reported plan to hand over a stake in the World Cup's commercial rights to private investors, a move the signatories see as further proof of governance that has drifted away from the real interests of football.

• Petit, Lizarazu, Pires and Drogba lead a joint statement shared on social media.
• The letter accuses current leadership of confusing personal interests with the good of the game.
• Signatories demand that players and fans get a direct say in football's governance.
• The plan to sell a stake in World Cup rights is the immediate trigger for the backlash.
• Other figures such as Adebayor, Verón, Pizarro and Silvestre have also backed the statement.

What the former champions' letter actually says

The statement, shared directly by the players themselves on social media, goes beyond criticizing a single decision. It points to a deeper, structural issue: the absence of mechanisms allowing players and fans to influence the major choices shaping the sport. According to the signatories, this disconnect between those who run football and those who live it every day has gone on far too long to stay silent any longer.

Power has clouded the current leadership's ability to distinguish between their own interests and what is truly best for football. Enough is enough.

The trigger: selling World Cup rights to private investors

The immediate cause of this reaction is Infantino's reported push to open the door to private capital in the commercial exploitation of World Cup rights, the most lucrative competition on the football calendar and FIFA's main source of revenue. For the letter's signatories, this kind of move illustrates how major decisions keep being made without consulting the people who actually sustain the spectacle: players and supporters.

Who signed the statement against FIFA's president

The list of signatories adds weight to the message. Alongside Frenchmen Emmanuel Petit, Bixente Lizarazu and Robert Pires -all World Cup winners with the national team- is Ivorian Didier Drogba, one of the most decorated African strikers of recent decades. They are joined, reportedly, by names such as England's Lucy Bronze, France's Mikael Silvestre, Peru's Claudio Pizarro, Argentina's Juan Sebastián Verón and Togo's Emmanuel Adebayor, giving the initiative representation across several continents and generations.

Why pressure on Gianni Infantino keeps growing

Infantino took over as FIFA president in 2016, in the wake of the corruption scandal that engulfed the organization under Joseph Blatter, promising transparency and renewed governance. Nearly a decade later, part of the football community feels those promises never translated into greater involvement of players and fans in decision-making, and episodes like the possible sale of World Cup rights reopen the debate over the leadership's near-total control of the sport's business.

What the former players want for football's future

Beyond the immediate criticism, the statement makes a concrete demand: opening real channels of participation for players and fans within the bodies that shape the sport's direction. The signatories insist there are honest people within FIFA itself willing to rebuild trust, but argue that without structural reform, any goodwill gesture will fall short.