- FIFA President Gianni Infantino apologised over a secret proposal that would have handed commercial rights to a private investment firm
- The FIFA Council met in Zurich on Thursday for the first time since the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan became public knowledge
- Council members told Infantino he was unfit to lead unless he released all documents and answered questions about the proposal
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said sorry to the governing body's Council for a controversial proposal that would have transferred a portion of FIFA's commercial rights to a private investment firm, but members told him he could not be considered fit to lead without full transparency.
The FIFA Council gathered in Zurich on Thursday for its first meeting since details of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan surfaced publicly.
Source: Getty Images
Under the scheme, which Infantino abandoned within days of it emerging, commercial rights belonging to world football's governing body would have been handed over to a private investment firm. Council members were not consulted before the plan was drawn up.
The meeting, which ran for three and a half hours, also saw Infantino face questions on separate matters, including a suspended red-card ban involving US striker Folarin Balogun, the FIFA Peace Prize, and how money is distributed to national associations.
Infantino apologises in video statement
Infantino declined to speak to journalists or take questions from the media after the meeting, but FIFA instead released a video in which he addressed the controversy directly.
"First of all, I apologised for the mistakes that we made in relation to the communication and consultation process related to the FIFA Forward Enterprise project which led to many consequences," he said in the video, via BBC.
He was also careful to reframe the FFE as a preliminary idea rather than a settled decision.
“What is important to remember is that it was a proposal and in no way a done deal, that actually intended to enable FIFA to invest more in our member associations, as opposed to replacing support from existing resources," Infantino added.
Despite the apology, the FIFA Council made clear that an expression of regret was not enough. Members told Infantino he must release all relevant documents related to the FFE proposal and provide complete answers to outstanding questions before he could be regarded as fit to continue leading the organisation.
The pressure on Infantino marks a significant moment of internal dissent within FIFA's leadership structure, with the Council publicly signalling its discontent over how the scheme was handled from the start.
FIFA plans changes to red card rule
Legit.ng previously reported that FIFA planned changes to red card rule after the Folarin Balogun scandal at the 2026 World Cup in the United States.
Infantino was accused of influencing the decision after confirmed political pressure from the United States President, Donald Trump.
Source: Legit.ng
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