Infantino offers apology but ‘no answers’ at Fifa meeting over World Cup plan

Gianni Infantino has been under severe pressure since his announcement in late July that he wanted to open Fifa's premium competitions such as the World Cup to private investors. (EPA Images pic) ZURICH: Fifa president Gianni Infantino gave "no satisfactory answers" when grilled Thursday during a meeting to discuss his attempts to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, senior members of football's global governing body said, but he did offer an apology for the failed project.

"We asked a great many critical questions, but there were no satisfactory answers from my point of view," said Bernd Neuendorf, the head of the German Football Association (DFB), who is also a member of the Fifa Council.

Neuendorf was speaking after the council met behind closed doors at the body's Zurich headquarters, where Infantino's Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal was one of the main topics on the agenda.

Infantino has been under severe pressure since his announcement in late July that he wanted to open Fifa's premium competitions such as the World Cup to private investors.

That plan was ultimately abandoned in the face of widespread criticism, with a rebellion led by European governing body Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and CONCACAF, which runs the sport in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

"I apologised for the mistakes that we made in relation to the communication and consultation process related to the Fifa Forward Enterprise project," Infantino said in a video published by Fifa.

"But what is important to remember is that it was a proposal, so in no way a done deal, just a proposal, that was actually intended to enable Fifa to invest more in our member associations."

However, the Fifa chief reaffirmed that the FFE initiative "has been permanently withdrawn and will not reappear in any form".

Infantino has headed Fifa since 2016 and is running for re-election next March, despite calls for him to stand down in the wake of the FFE plan.

For the moment, no heavyweight candidate has put themselves forward to run against him.

Debbie Hewitt, the chair of the English Football Association who is also a Fifa vice-president, told reporters that Infantino is "not fit to be Fifa president" unless he releases all documents pertaining to the failed sell-off plan and answers key questions.

Hewitt and Neuendorf are among the 36 members of the Fifa Council, along with Infantino.

"We were asked to submit our questions" in relation to the plan which was not put to the Fifa Council before the July announcement, Hewitt said.

"One of the disappointing things was we didn't get answers. We didn't get answers to anything we had specifically requested, for example, getting the papers from FFE, and so we asked the question why and why not."

'Nothing has shifted'

Many leading European national associations have withdrawn their support for Infantino in the upcoming election because of the uproar caused by FFE and other controversies, including his relationship with US president Donald Trump.

Chief among those were Infantino's decision to create a Fifa Peace Prize and award it to Trump at last December's World Cup draw and the decision to suspend a ban for United States striker Folarin Balogun following a red card during the World Cup after Trump intervened directly by phoning Infantino.

"I speak for myself as a council member – from my position nothing has shifted," Hewitt added. "I have no new information that makes me feel any differently than how I felt when I went in, other than that we do have a president of Fifa who is apologetic about what has happened, and secondly, a promise again that we will get the information that we have requested."

Fifa confirmed its intention to set up a US$6.35 billion development fund for the next four years, a plan which is expected to be finalised by the Council at its next meeting in December.

To finance the fund, which would allow money to be distributed to Fifa's 211 federations as well as to the regional confederations, it would draw in part on its financial reserves after a commercially successful 2026 World Cup.

The plan would allow for the payment of US$25 million to all 211 member federations.

Infantino may hope the latest plan reinforces his position ahead of the election.

The deadline for submitting candidatures is Nov 18.