Fifa criticises campaign to oust president Infantino

Fifa has strongly criticised what it calls a "concerted and ongoing effort" to "undermine" the organisation and its president Gianni Infantino.

The statement follows a Daily Telegraph report , external which claimed Infantino's alleged lover was given a severance payment by Uefa after he had an affair while he was its general secretary.

A Fifa spokesperson told the Telegraph Infantino "strongly denies" the allegations and that they are "categorically untrue".

Fifa has now itself hit out at "unsubstantiated assertions and demonstrably false claims", adding that "speculation and insinuation should not be presented as fact".

Infantino has come under increasing pressure from Uefa and European football associations over his aborted Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal.

FFE would have meant a new company being created to manage commercial and ticketing rights, with 21% sold off to a private investment company.

Uefa has said it has lost confidence in Infantino, while Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) president Lise Klaveness on Friday called on the Swiss-Italian to resign .

European football's governing body says its threat to boycott Fifa events remains on the table , adding that assurances the FFE plan could not be revived have not been received.