Houssine Kharja: Infantino deserves support as football’s power shifts beyond Europe

Houssine Kharja has launched a strong defence of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, saying he does not deserve the criticism directed at him and claiming that European football fears losing its long-standing dominance of the global game.

The former Morocco international, who is FIFA’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said he fully supported Infantino amid the recent pressure surrounding the FIFA president.

Kharja also rejected speculation that he could become president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, giving his backing instead to the current incumbent, Fouzi Lekjaa.

“I have one thing to say: we have today the best president the federation has ever known,” Kharja told Moroccan platform SOCCER212. “Fouzi Lekjaa is someone for whom I have great appreciation and deep respect, and I have very good relations with him.”

“I wish him every success and hope with all my heart that he remains at the head of the federation. He is someone I respect greatly and, above all, he is extremely capable. It is difficult to find a president able to achieve work of this scale.”

Kharja praises 2026 World Cup hosts

Kharja also defended the organisation of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, arguing that the tournament had silenced those who had been waiting for an opportunity to criticise it, as they had done with Qatar 2022.

“To be completely honest, all those who were waiting for an opportunity to criticise the tournament, as happened previously in Qatar 2022, simply so they could attack it, were completely wrong,” he said.

“As far as attendance and the enthusiasm of the fans are concerned, despite the strong criticism of ticket prices and the cost of travelling, the stadiums were completely full, whether in Canada, Mexico or the United States.”

Many critics had claimed the United States was not a football country and that FIFA was heading towards failure, Kharja said. But he believed the tournament had proved them wrong.

“Many people said that the United States was not a football country and that FIFA was heading towards failure. In the end, this tournament silenced all the criticism, exactly as Qatar did two years ago,” he added.

“Praise should go to the organisation, to the three host countries and to FIFA. Everything was successful, despite those who were simply waiting for a mistake.”

‘Football belongs to everyone’

Kharja said proposals put forward by Infantino to football associations were optional and that critics had misrepresented the nature of the plans.

“First, things must be put into context. The president comes with a proposal for each federation. He presents his project, and every federation has the right to say yes or no. This is not compulsory in any way, contrary to what they are trying to make us believe. He proposes and they decide. I do not see any problem at all,” he said.

He added that Infantino had used his network and relationships to try to secure funding for associations, which were free to accept or reject the proposals.

“Unfortunately, all his critics quickly seized on this information to attack the project. I find this deeply abnormal. People imagine that it is easy to find funding to help federations, but they are wrong,” Kharja said.

“The president, through his networks and relationships, simply tried to bring funding to federations which had the choice of signing or not signing.”

Kharja argued that Infantino’s work since his election in 2016 deserved recognition because it aimed to make football a truly global sport.

“This is the real heart of the problem: this opening-up annoys a certain part of the world, especially Europe,” he said.

“The fact that these small countries, which struggle to organise themselves, could one day compete with football giants bothers some people. That is exactly what we saw at the last World Cup: more modest national teams came to upset the balance against the major countries.”

The former Morocco international said Europe felt threatened by the progress of football in other continents. He pointed to dual-national players born and developed in Europe who choose to represent Morocco, their country of origin.

“The real problem is that Europe feels threatened. It sees football progressing in other continents,” Kharja said. “Today, as a Moroccan, I see it as a good thing: young dual nationals born and trained in Europe choose to play for Morocco, their country of origin.”

“This also annoys Europe, which looks selfishly only at its own interests. Everyone attacking Infantino mainly comes from Europe. They are afraid of the competition that is coming, afraid that their dominance will collapse, and they want to remain the only masters of football. But no: football belongs to everyone.”

Kharja, who also acts as a sports adviser to Infantino, said his personal experience of working closely with the FIFA president had convinced him that the criticism was unfair.

“Because I have had the opportunity to know Gianni Infantino personally and accompany him every day, I see the person he really is,” he said. “I can assure you that he absolutely does not deserve all these unjust attacks. Honestly, he does not deserve all the bad things being said about him.”

Kharja also questioned the scrutiny directed at FIFA’s attempts to attract outside investment when private organisations already fund European leagues and clubs.

“Do you know how many private actors finance European leagues, even at club level? There is no scandal for them, and nobody asks where the money comes from,” he said.

“But as soon as Infantino wants to bring in money to finance football across the world, they start shouting? This is pure hypocrisy. They want to prevent FIFA from doing what they allow themselves to do. Europe is simply afraid that its dominance will slip away.”