FIFA session: Infantino apologizes for World Cup match but fails to win over critics

FIFA President Gianni Infantino apologized to members of the governing body’s board on Thursday for his handling of a proposed $4.2 billion investment deal but failed to provide documents and answers requested by European soccer officials.

The proposal, introduced in July and later abandoned, would give private investors a stake in a subsidiary managing the commercial rights to the World Cup and the Club World Cup. His withdrawal has done little to ease tensions within FIFA, with UEFA continuing to question Infanta’s leadership ahead of presidential elections in March.

Infantino also faced questions over the red card case involving striker Folarin Balogun at the World Cup and US President Donald Trump’s reported intervention in support of the player.

FIFA will assess whether to continue awarding its peace prize, which was created and presented to Trump last December.

UEFA DEMANDS ANSWERS

FIFA vice-president Debbie Hewitt said Infantino had asked European officials to submit written questions about the investment plan after they pressed him to submit supporting documents.

“The man has to answer these questions. If he doesn’t answer these questions, no, he is not fit to be FIFA president,” said Hewitt, who heads the English Football Association.

UEFA, Europe’s soccer governing body, is seeking to challenge Infanta’s leadership. German FA president Bernd Neuendorf, one of eight UEFA representatives on FIFA’s 37-member council, said the meeting failed to address their concerns.

“No satisfactory answers have been given,” Neuendorf said.

“We need a person of integrity, someone who can be expected to restore the association’s reputation, which has undoubtedly been lost,” he added.

Infantino opened the meeting by apologizing to council members for announcing the investment plan without adequately informing them. The proposal, involving investors led by Joshua Kushner, became public through media reports nine days after the World Cup finals in July.

“He said it with some regret,” Hewitt said.

LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER $4.2 BILLION

The proposed arrangement would give investors led by Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, at least a 20 percent stake in the trading rights subsidiary.

UEFA turned to the courts in the United States to obtain evidence from FIFA and Kushner’s investment firm for possible criminal charges against Infantino in Switzerland. Her legal filing questions the valuation of the business and cites possible financial mismanagement.

UEFA lawyers argued that the US$4.2 billion valuation could be a “fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit”. FIFA asked US courts to dismiss the claims and accused UEFA of running a “smear campaign”.

FIFA’S PAYING PLAN AVOIDED CONTROVERSY

Disagreement also centered on the funding of FIFA’s 211 member associations. Infantino is expected to propose an additional US$15 million for each federation over the 2027-2030 business cycle, on top of the US$10 million already pledged.

UEFA and its allies last month proposed a one-off payment of US$10 million to the federation from FIFA’s cash reserves, arguing that the governing body does not need private investment to boost funds for its members.

Infantino’s abandoned plan came with an offer of US$20 million for each federation that approved the deal before a mid-September deadline.

The official voting period for the FIFA 2027 presidential competition began at the Vancouver Congress in April. FIFA elections are traditionally held in the year following the men’s World Cup, when incumbent presidents can campaign during the distribution of tournament-related financial benefits.

Thursday’s meeting ended without the documents or explanations that European officials had demanded, leaving the dispute over Infantino’s leadership unresolved.

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