Watzke reinforces German football body's stance against Infantino

German Football Federation (DFB) vice president Hans-Joachim Watzke reinforced the body's confrontational stance against FIFA president Gianni Infantino ahead of a meeting between top European football officials in Berlin on Thursday.

"I've said it often enough over the past few weeks. So many mistakes were made - from the Peace Prize (awarded to United States President Donald Trump) and the Folarin Balogun issue to the investor saga," he said.

Watzke, who's also UEFA vice president, emphasized that there is a clear consensus within the DFB.

Federation president Bernd Neuendorf recently told the Tagesspiegel newspaper: "We have to remove him from office. Gianni Infantino is no longer acceptable as FIFA president. He has done great harm to football."

The UEFA leadership and the heads its 55 member associations are meeting in Berlin to discuss how to proceed in the power struggle with Infantino, among other things.

Infantino has been facing criticism since he awarded FIFA's inaugural Peace Prize to Trump during the draw for the World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.

During the event, Infantino was involved in the scandal over a red card to US forward Balogun. The player had a red-card ban suspended which allowed him to play in the next game after Trump intervened via a phone call to Infantino.

Most recently, he's been under fire due to his failed plans for a highly controversial investor deal.

In the biggest crisis of his tenure since he took office in 2016, Europe's UEFA threatened to boycott all FIFA events and is preparing a lawsuit in connection with the investor plans on suspicion of breach of fiduciary duty.

Infantino, however, has confirmed that he will run for re-elections in the next presidential elections in March 2027, despite calls for him to step down. He has also offered his opponents talks on possible FIFA reforms.