Pressure on FIFA mounts as Greek FA, German icon Bierhoff back push for reform

[p][b]"The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/greece/COuk57Ci/"]Greek FA[/a] (EPO) has taken a clear position against a candidacy of Gianni Infantino," ‌[/b]EPO President Makis Gagatsis told reporters.[/p][p][b]"We saw things happen at the ‌World Cup that are not acceptable to football public opinion. Then... came ‌a programme to sell World Cup rights and we are clearly against ‌it, so we withdrew our support of the FIFA president."[/b][/p][p]He was speaking after a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, with ‌a "legends'" five-a-side game held in the city centre ⁠to promote UEFA's grassroots programme.[/p][p]UEFA president ‌Aleksander Ceferin was also present at the event but did not talk to ​media.[/p][p]Infantino has been under mounting pressure ever since he unveiled a proposal to sell a commercial stake of the World ​Cup to private investors. The plan prompted fierce opposition, with UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and North America's CONCACAF among those calling for change at ⁠the top of FIFA.[/p][embed guid="818c33e9-1983-4847-985a-d761c57eee0f" url="https://x.com/DeadlineDayLive/status/2098678410193031472?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]FIFA ​quickly abandoned the plan and apologised to member associations for mistakes made, but its leadership reaffirmed support for Infantino after a crisis meeting in August in Morocco.[/p][p]UEFA has been among the staunchest critics of Infantino and have ‌said a change in leadership is now necessary given the loss of trust in Infantino, who is planning to run for re-election in March.[/p][p][b]"We have to take care of football," [/b]Bierhoff, who was Germany's national team director for 18 years until 2022, said.[/p][p][b]"It is already commercial but it is a property for all of football. The world views may be different but in the last weeks and months a lot happened so that we have no trust any more that it will be going ‌in the right direction."[/b][/p][image alt="Oliver Bierhoff was Germany's national team director until 2022" id="38e0a292-0f5b-4fb9-86c8-d20ecddcc2ee" credit-line="RONALD WITTEK / EPA / Profimedia" guid="b81c1b65-5117-4410-8314-664d40d28198" original-width="1400" original-height="1013" /][p]Infantino has weathered the opposition against him since he ​apologised to FIFA members in August over errors surrounding the abandoned ‌proposal but has since declined to discuss the fallout publicly.[/p][p]Sources have told Reuters his critics are now having to rethink their strategy.[/p][p]They have until mid-November to name a rival presidential candidate but so far there is no clear frontrunner.[/p][p]On Saturday, Danish football chief Jesper ⁠Moller, a member of UEFA’s Executive Committee, ⁠said he would [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/danish-fa-chair-blasts-fifa-impossible-to-get-questions-answered/OA1jIH6b/"]continue working ‌with European colleagues[/a] to find a candidate who could command a majority.[/p]