Zurich, Aug 09 (V7N) – FIFA has accused its critics of conducting a "coordinated and ongoing effort" to remove President Gianni Infantino, while strongly rejecting what it described as baseless and false allegations against him.

The statement came after a recent report by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph alleged that Infantino had a personal relationship with and made payments to a woman during his time at UEFA. FIFA said the allegations had been strongly denied by Infantino and described them as "completely untrue."

In a statement issued on Saturday (August 8), FIFA warned that speculation, insinuations and unsubstantiated allegations should not be presented as established facts.

The latest dispute follows controversy over the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative. Under the proposal, a new company would have been established to manage FIFA's commercial and ticketing rights, with 21 percent of the company potentially offered to private investors. The proposal was later withdrawn following widespread criticism.

UEFA has also expressed a lack of confidence in Infantino's leadership and maintained its threat to boycott certain FIFA events. Last Friday, Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klavenes also called for Infantino to resign.

FIFA, however, defended Infantino's position, saying he was democratically elected by representatives of its member associations and is carrying out his mandate.

The organization argued that those seeking changes in FIFA leadership should pursue them through established democratic procedures rather than through allegations, propaganda or what it called misleading information.

Infantino continues to enjoy significant support outside Europe. The Mexican Football Federation has backed him, while South America's governing body CONMEBOL has said it would oppose any effort to remove the FIFA president without a vote involving FIFA's 211 member associations.

The 54 member associations of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have also expressed unanimous support for Infantino, according to FIFA.

Earlier, Infantino met with members of FIFA's leadership in Rabat, Morocco, following the controversy surrounding the FFE proposal. FIFA subsequently acknowledged shortcomings in the proposal and expressed regret over the controversy.

At the same time, FIFA warned that attempts to damage the organization's reputation, governance or democratic processes would not be tolerated.

The governing body said it welcomes criticism, scrutiny and debate but insisted that such oversight should not be used to obstruct FIFA's activities through what it described as unfounded allegations or distorted information.

END/SMA/AJ