Behind the Story: FIFA row and rebuilding Gaza

FIFA President Gianni Infantino's proposal to sell off a stake in the World Cup continues to meet furious opposition.

Two other football associations, CONCACAF and AFC, joined UEFA in opposing the plan.

A senior FIFA advisor, Carlos Cordiero, resigned on Friday over the proposal.

Sky News sports reporter Rob Harris told Behind the Story the scale of the criticism is unprecedented.

"UEFA and FIFA have been at loggerheads at times over many years," he said.

"While it's not unusual for them to be critical, the scale of the criticism is so significant – so directly questioning how people in FIFA are enriching themselves, potentially, from this."

Mr Harris said support for Mr Infantino appears to be waning.

"I’m hearing that Infantino is rapidly losing support across the world of football, with those in high positions believing he should go," he said.

"The question is now how he saves his presidency – particularly after one of his right-hand men, Carlos Cordeiro, has quit in protest."

Mr Harris said Mr Cordeiro’s resignation will be "absolutely bruising" to Mr Infantino.

He also believes any chance of Mr Infantino being re-elected FIFA president for another term is looking increasingly unlikely.

"The question is now can football associations, particularly in Europe that have so publicly rejected Infantino, next year be standing up at a congress applauding him after he’s been re-elected?

"It seems very hard to imagine that now and the questions is just how this unravels?"

Comparing Mr Infantino to his predecessor Sepp Baltter, who left FIFA in 2015 amid a corruption scandal, Mr Harris is unsure what may be able to save him.

"Surely Infantino would not want to go out in shame, but it is increasingly like that," he said.

"The question is does a huge mea culpa, a big apology, a huge expression of contrition try to save him?

"It really needs something like that now if he is going to potentially hold on to the presidency."

A recently published report, co authored by the aid agency Oxfam, estimates that the reconstruction of Gaza will cost $71.4 billion.

Jim Clerkin, Oxfam Ireland CEO, told Behind the Story that there is so much more than physical destruction to consider.

"They reckon that Gaza’s development has been set back by 70 years," he said

"One of the most startling stats (is) the fact that the life expectancy in Gaza has gone from about 76 years down to about 40.6 years."

He said Gaza has "the lowest life expectancy of any place on the planet by a country mile".

Mr Clerkin said any reconstruction must include the Palestinians who live there.

"It’ll require major international effort from countries across the globe, including Ireland," he said.

"I think Ireland can play an important role – particularly now during the EU Presidency.

"The central message of the report is both the physical rebuilding, and the societal rebuilding will need to be led by Gazans and Palestinians.

"It can’t be led by some contracted big construction companies or organisations that aren’t accountable to the people of Gaza."

You can listen to Behind the Story on the RTÉ Radio Player.

You can also find episodes on Apple here , or on Spotify here .