FIFA President Gianni Infantino has apologised to the organisation’s council over the handling of an abandoned commercial proposal, but English and German football officials have questioned his suitability to remain in office.
The disagreement followed Thursday’s FIFA Council meeting, where Infantino acknowledged shortcomings in communication and consultation surrounding the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project.
The proposal involved establishing a company to manage commercial interests linked to FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, with a minority stake to be sold to private investors.
Infantino said the initiative was intended to generate additional funding for FIFA’s 211 member associations.
Speaking in a video published by FIFA after the closed-door meeting, Infantino said he had apologised for mistakes in the consultation process.
“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 then led to many consequences,” he said.
“But what is important to remember is that it was a proposal, so in no way a done deal.”
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German FA Calls for Leadership Change
German Football Association President Bernd Neuendorf called for a complete overhaul of FIFA’s leadership and governance structures, arguing that the necessary reforms could not be implemented under Infantino.
“The first thing is we need reforms. That’s true. And everyone knows that,” Neuendorf said.
“The old administration has to be reformed, and the whole governance has to be reformed. But I’m pretty clear here in this that this is not possible with Gianni.
“So we need a complete restart, I think, a political restart.”
Neuendorf also questioned the scope of Infantino’s apology, suggesting that it addressed the failure to consult council members rather than the commercial proposal itself.
“I didn’t have the feeling that this apology was because of the FFE project in total,” he said.
“My impression was it was just because it wasn’t brought forward to the council and no one was involved.”
According to Neuendorf, council members learned about the proposal through media reports rather than directly from FIFA’s leadership.
He added that representatives of other confederations had also raised concerns about the lack of consultation.
English FA Demands Answers
English Football Association Chair Debbie Hewitt also questioned Infantino’s leadership, insisting that FIFA Council members deserved answers about the decisions surrounding the FFE proposal.
“I think the man has to answer those questions,” Hewitt said.
“And if he doesn’t answer those questions, no, he’s not fit to be FIFA president.”
Hewitt called for relevant documents to be made available to council members, arguing that greater transparency was necessary to address governance concerns.
“You have an obligation. We all have an obligation, a fiduciary responsibility to answer the questions that have been put forward,” she said.
“He told us to submit those questions. There were so many of them, and now it’s up to him to do that and do that in the open way.
“If there’s nothing to hide, then share (the FFE documents) with us… if you regret it that deeply, please share it with us.”
Hewitt maintained that meaningful governance reforms would require a clearer understanding of how decisions at the centre of recent controversies had been reached.
She cited the FFE proposal, the decision to suspend the automatic one-match ban imposed on United States forward Folarin Balogun following his World Cup red card, and the FIFA Peace Prize awarded to US President Donald Trump as matters requiring further scrutiny.
“Unless we understand what happened, either it was a massive failing in governance because it wasn’t followed or actually the governance was followed, but there was something else that got to what we all felt in there was the wrong decisions,” Hewitt said.
“So we must understand what happened in order to be able to review it. Otherwise we’re guessing.”
African Football Official Backs Infantino
Despite the criticism, Infantino received support from Ahmed Yahya, President of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
Yahya defended Infantino’s leadership, citing increased financial support for national football associations and the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams.
“We (the African nations) believe Gianni is the right person to continue leading football,” Yahya said.
Asked whether most football officials supported Infantino’s continued leadership, he replied:
“I’m certain. The majority want Gianni to stay.”
The differing positions highlighted divisions among senior football officials over Infantino’s leadership and the governance reforms being demanded within FIFA.
