FIFA is set to amend its rules to prevent a repeat of the controversial reversal of the World Cup suspension issued to United States forward Folarin Balogun, sources have told ESPN. On Thursday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino will chair the first session of the 37-member FIFA council since his secretive and divisive World Cup sell-off plan was revealed and dropped within days 11 weeks ago. At the top of the agenda is a motion to prohibit suspensions of automatic one-match bans in the future.
The decision by FIFA's disciplinary committee to suspend the ban imposed on Balogun sparked outcry that it amounted to political interference, after U.S. President Donald Trump admitted he had personally asked Infantino to review the ban. FIFA members have criticized Infantino for his ties to Trump and potential conflicts of interest. A rule change alone is unlikely to satisfy those still seeking clarity, including Football Association chair and FIFA vice president Debbie Hewitt, who wrote to Infantino last month calling for the release of documents related to the Balogun case. Infantino has always insisted the disciplinary committee's decision was made entirely independently of him.
On Thursday, Hewitt and other council members are also expected to press Infantino for more information about the now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, which sought to bring private investment into a company running the commercial interests of the World Cup and other competitions. The confrontation comes ahead of a Nov. 18 deadline for candidates to enter FIFA's presidential election, to be held four months later in Rabat, Morocco. Infantino is facing the biggest crisis in his near 11-year presidency amid calls for him to resign.
At the core of these issues is Infantino's increasingly executive, one-man leadership style, which led his departed chief operating officer Kevin Lamour to describe the intended spinoff as "the project of one person." It is unclear whether most of the 211 federations want to vote out a president who has sent them millions of dollars from FIFA. At the council, Infantino is expected to propose that each member receive an extra $15 million in the 2027-30 commercial cycle, on top of the $10 million already promised.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing