Fifa president Gianni Infantino has apologised to the Fifa Council over his secret Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, which would have handed part of football's commercial rights to a private investment firm. Infantino scrapped the plan within days, but Council members said he is not fit to lead unless he releases all the documents and answers key questions.
The Council met in Zurich on Thursday for three and a half hours. Infantino also faced questions about US striker Folarin Balogun's suspended red-card ban, the Fifa Peace Prize and funding for national associations. Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt, a Fifa vice-president, said many questions remained unanswered. "One of the disappointing things is that we didn't get answers to anything that we had specifically requested - for example getting the papers from FFE," she said. She added that the president "has to answer those questions" and that she had still not received the papers despite repeated requests.
Hewitt acknowledged there had been "some contrition" in Infantino's apology, but said he had really apologised for not bringing the plan to the Council. Uefa, one of Infantino's fiercest critics, has prepared criminal legal proceedings against him and lodged a claim in three US courts seeking release of all FFE documents. Hewitt said nothing had shifted in Uefa's position.
Infantino will stand for re-election in March, his third bid as president. No credible challenger has yet emerged, though former Switzerland defender Ramon Vega has said he intends to run, and senior European figures want Arsene Wenger to stand. Opponents must nominate a candidate before the 18 November deadline.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing