Gianni Infantio’s position as FIFA President is under fire following the latest FIFA council meeting in which he apologised but did little to stop calls for his resignation.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino was left in survival mode according to European association members during a recent FIFA council meeting yesterday (15 October).
Infantino stood before the FIFA council to apologise to the executive committee and association members in Zurich following months of calls for him to step down as President and an overhaul of FIFA’s governance.
After the three-hour-plus council meeting, FIFA released a video to members of the media of Infantino apologising for how he handled the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, which would have seen stakes in FIFA’s competitions, such as the World Cup, sold off to private equity firms in a bid to raise $20bn for association members who were not consulted on the project.
“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 led to many consequences,” said Infantino.
“But what is important to remember is that it was a proposal and in no way a done deal, that actually intended to enable FIFA to invest more in our member associations, as opposed to replacing support from existing resources.”
The FFE project was discussed at the council meeting “where everyone had the opportunity to ask questions and express their views”, said Infantino.
The FFE proposal was widely rejected and condemned by FIFA confederations and association members, particularly UEFA, which filed documents to US courts over alleged “criminal mismanagement”. FIFA is fighting this legal case, accusing UEFA of interfering with the 2027 Presidential election.
Infantino still under fire amongst FIFA members
Despite his apology, calls for Infantino to either step down or not run for FIFA President next year persists.
One council member told The Guardian following the meeting that Infantino’s sole objective was to “survive this meeting and nothing more”.
English FA Chair, Debbie Hewitt, believes Infantino did not provide the responses the council wanted and still has plenty to answer for. She believes if he does not address these questions, “he’s not fit to be FIFA President”.
German FA President, Bern Neuendorf went one step further; calling for Infantino and the entire administration to resign in order to completely reform FIFA’s governance.
“The whole administration has to be reformed and the whole governance has to be reformed,” he told reporters in Zurich. “But I’m pretty clear here that this is not possible with Gianni as the responsible person at FIFA. So we need a complete restart, I think, a political restart of persons who represent FIFA.
“Yes he apologised, but I didn’t have the feeling that this apology was because of the FFE project in total. My impression was it was just because it wasn’t brought forward to the council and no one was involved.”
Still no Infantino Presidential opposition – yet
While Infantino continues to feel the pressure, he still remains the favourite to win the FIFA Presidential election in March 2027.
The only candidate to have publicly announced his intention to run for President is former Tottenham Hotspur and Switzerland defender Ramon Vega, but he has yet to receive formal support from member associations.
UEFA is still yet to announce its candidate after current UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said he will not run for the position next year, instead opting to return to his current position for a fourth term in April 2027’s election.
Infantino has run opposed for the last two FIFA Presidential elections in 2019 and 2023, but UEFA remains confident it will have a candidate announced before the November 18 deadline.
One figure who has been touted to run against Infantino is former Arsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger, who is the current Chief of Global Football Development at FIFA.
Neuendorf said he was “very confident” a candidate will run against Infantino next year, while Hewitt believes it is important for someone else to offer a different manifesto and provide more options.
“We’re in a democracy here. We must remember there are 211 associations and it’s really important that all 211 associations have the opportunity to vote according to how they feel,” said Hewitt.
“This is somebody first and foremost who puts football first right at the heart of everything that they do. Secondly, it has to be somebody who unites the world. Thirdly, somebody who needs to have the courage to bring about reforms.”
