Confidence in Fifa is supposedly being rebuilt. How do we know? Because Fifa itself has said so. And the organisation’s sense of its own integrity is such that any criticism of it is now being framed as unacceptable. In the middle of controversy over plans to effectively sell off the World Cup, Fifa has insisted that was not what it was doing. That said, many within Fifa themselves did not appear to know for certain, because the organisation had not bothered to consult them.

Then came Fifa’s statement about a “constructive and positive meeting held in Rabat, Morocco”, even though the only official in the organisation directly elected by all 211 member associations is the president. Even so, many of those associations are now calling for Gianni Infantino to leave, while many others voiced opposition to what the governing body itself described as the “Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal”.

Now that proposal has been withdrawn and, in Fifa’s own telling, after a statement that pushed Orwellian doublespeak to its limits, the only issue left, in Fifa’s version of events, is the supposedly dreadful “attacks” being made against it.

Gianni Infantino showed very little remorse in his letter after the Fifa crisis meeting.

A global sport was thrown into turmoil by one man, Infantino, who either had an idea that he failed to properly communicate to almost everyone — Fifa chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, chief of global football development Arsene Wenger, the different confederations, clubs, national associations, players and supporters — or else attempted a power grab against the sport itself.

But after Fifa’s meeting, Infantino and secretary general Mattias Grafstrom issued a joint letter and, according to them, everyone can now feel reassured thanks to 19 words that reveal the scale of the delusion. “Fifa’s top management is fully confident that the outcomes of today’s meeting will help restore confidence in the organisation,” they said.

And why would they not say that? Infantino wants to remain in control and either he is the most divisive figure in football or he has managed to unite huge numbers of people and competing interests against him. “Mistakes made were acknowledged,” said the letter, which was otherwise packed with optimism that strained belief.

Infantino’s letter was filled with optimism that was hard to take seriously.

He also appeared to borrow from Donald Trump’s playbook by presenting himself as the target of unfair attacks.

“It was agreed that it was not the intention for the Fifa council and Fifa member associations to feel excluded from the process,” was the closest the letter came to an apology. If that is the case, then why were they excluded? A plan surrounded by such secrecy that only members of the Kushner family were informed was dropped on the football world; football associations that were prepared to vote in favour would receive more money from Fifa than those that would not, something some regarded as close to bribery, though that word does not appear anywhere in Infantino’s letter.

Even so, he has promised there will not be a repeat and that a review will take place; but presumably that review will be carried out by Infantino’s side within Fifa and will deliver the conclusions it is expected to deliver.

Though perhaps that too would be dismissed as another unfair attack on the reputations of Infantino and Fifa; the sensitivity visible in the 56-year-old’s public posts seemed to have spread to the organisation as a whole.

“It was agreed that Fifa will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation,” was one of the more detached lines in the statement. Entirely by coincidence, Donald Trump also casts himself as the victim of unfair attacks; Fifa has now done the same.

Infantino, centre, and Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, left, attended a women’s AFCON match together after the crisis meeting in Rabat.

It is, of course, already too late to protect a reputation that has been dragged through the mud during the Infantino era; by overturning suspensions for Cristiano Ronaldo and Folarin Balogun, by bending the rules to place Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in the Club World Cup, by allowing the United States to bar Somali referee Omar Artan from entering the country, by drawing close to Trump, and by creating a peace prize for a man who then went on to begin an illegal war.

Fifa became synonymous with greed; in the United States, it was striking that ordinary Americans blamed Fifa by name for extremely high ticket prices. The organisation did not project impartiality, not when favourable treatment was extended to the Trump administration and decision-making appeared to be influenced by the White House. It did not act as a representative of the global game either, not when, as the attempt to sell off the World Cup demonstrated, it tried to do exactly that without most of football even knowing.

If Fifa truly wants to rebuild its reputation, it needs greater honesty and different leadership. Infantino’s latest message offered neither.