He gave no documents on the dropped World Cup stake plan, and challengers have until November 18 to stand against him.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino apologised to the FIFA Council in Zurich on Thursday for mistakes over a plan to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors. He left the meeting, which ran for more than three hours, without handing over documents or the answers his toughest critics had asked for.
The plan was known as FIFA Forward Enterprise, a $4.2 billion sell-off in which the stake was to be at least 20% owned by investors led by Joshua Kushner. Infantino later dropped it amid a fierce backlash led from Europe. In a video statement after the meeting, he said: "I apologized 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 added that it was "just a proposal, so in no way a done deal."
Infantino should step aside, according to Debbie Hewitt, a FIFA vice president who heads the English FA. She said he offered his apology "with some contrition", but she set out her bottom line:
"The man has to answer those questions. If he doesn't answer those questions, no, he is not fit to be the FIFA president."
Infantino had asked council members to put their questions in writing, to be answered at the December meeting. That request frustrated European delegates at their only meeting before the Nov. 18 deadline for candidates to stand against him.
Bernd Neuendorf, president of the German Football Association, was blunter. "No satisfactory answers were provided," he said. He added: "We need a person of integrity, someone who can be expected to restore the reputation of the association, which has undoubtedly been lost."
FIFA said the details of the investor project "remain confidential due to ongoing legal proceedings in the United States." UEFA has asked US courts for the right to gather evidence for a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland. Its court filings allege possible mismanagement of FIFA finances in the value Infantino put on the intended subsidiary. FIFA's lawyers have called those requests a "smear campaign" by UEFA.
The council also pressed Infantino on the one-match ban given to USA striker Folarin Balogun, which was suspended during the World Cup in a case where US President Donald Trump intervened. FIFA's legal committee will review disciplinary procedures. FIFA is also reviewing whether to keep awarding the peace prize it gave Trump in December 2025, with a final decision due at the December meeting.
FIFA plans to use some of its reserves to more than double its planned funding for 2027-2030, to $6.35bn. Africa, which counts 54 of the 211 member federations, has been key to gaining and staying in power for most of the last 50 years. FIFA Council member Ahmed Yahya, head of Mauritania's federation, put it plainly after the meeting: "The majority want Gianni Infantino to stay."
Infantino is seeking to win re-election and serve a fourth term in office. The election meeting is on March 18 in Rabat, Morocco, and anyone who wants to stand has until November 18 to declare. UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin has said he prefers running his confederation for another term. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Norwegian FA boss Lise Klaveness have been mentioned as possible candidates, but neither seems keen.
The council is due to meet next on Dec. 16 in Doha, Qatar, where the findings of the legal committee's review of disciplinary procedures, and those on the peace prize, are to be presented.
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