Infantino apologises to FIFA council as European officials demand answers

Gianni Infantino apologised to FIFA council members in Zurich on Thursday over his abandoned World Cup investment proposal, but European officials said the meeting failed to resolve their concerns. The Associated Press reported that the FIFA president supplied neither the requested documents about the plan nor new details about the handling of Folarin Balogun's World Cup suspension.

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According to BBC Sport, the three-and-a-half-hour session was the council's first since the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal became public. The scheme would have transferred a portion of the governing body's commercial rights to a private investment firm. Infantino subsequently withdrew it, but council members have continued seeking the records behind the proposal and an explanation of how it was developed.

AP reported that the intended commercial-rights subsidiary would have been at least 20% owned by investors led by Joshua Kushner. UEFA has sought access to evidence through US courts for a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland. The filings allege possible financial mismanagement relating to the proposed valuation; those allegations are not findings of wrongdoing.

German federation president Bernd Neuendorf told AP that the answers provided were unsatisfactory and called for leadership capable of restoring FIFA's reputation. The agency also reported that FIFA would review whether to continue awarding its peace prize, which was created for Donald Trump last December.

BBC Sport reported that Football Association chair and FIFA vice-president Debbie Hewitt acknowledged contrition in Infantino's apology but said it concerned his failure to bring the proposal to the council. She said requested papers had not been supplied and members were told to put their questions in writing. Hewitt made her criticism of his fitness to remain president conditional on his failure to answer those questions.

The dispute continues ahead of March's presidential election. BBC Sport reported that nominations close on 18 November and that Hewitt stressed the importance of giving FIFA's 211 member associations a choice. Infantino was returned unopposed in 2019 and 2023. Hewitt said the apology had not otherwise changed her position because she had received no new information.