Fifa president Gianni Infantino has apologised to the Fifa Council over his World Cup sell-off plan, but council members have said he is still not fit to lead unless he releases all the relevant documents and answers key questions.
The Council met in Zurich on Thursday for the first time since Infantino's secret Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal emerged. Under FFE, which Infantino scrapped within days, a portion of Fifa's commercial rights would have been handed to a private investment firm. In a three-and-a-half-hour meeting, he 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 despite what she called the most robust, most frank, most open Council meeting she had experienced. "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 rationale behind FFE, the Balogun case and the Peace Prize must be explained, and that Infantino's answers would determine whether he was the right candidate.
Uefa, one of Infantino's fiercest critics, has repeatedly called on him to stand down, has prepared criminal legal proceedings against him and has lodged a claim in three US courts seeking the release of all FFE documents. Infantino will stand for a third term as Fifa president in March, and no credible challenger has yet emerged. Senior European figures want former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to run, but it is unclear whether he would be willing to take on his boss. Opponents must nominate a candidate before the 18 November deadline.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing