Infantino says sorry to FIFA Council over dropped investment plan

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said sorry to the FIFA Council about a dropped investment plan. This plan would have given part of FIFA's commercial rights to a private investment firm.

The proposal, called Fifa Forward Enterprise, was pulled back just days after it was announced. It has raised many questions about how FIFA makes decisions and its transparency.

According to BBC Sport, the FIFA Council had its first meeting in Zurich since the proposal was made public. Infantino faced questions about this plan, the red-card ban on United States striker Folarin Balogun, the FIFA Peace Prize, and funding for national football associations.

After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting, Football Association chair and FIFA vice-president Debbie Hewitt said many important questions were still left unanswered.

"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," Hewitt said.

She mentioned that she had asked many times for the documents to be shared, but she had not received them yet.

"I asked the question ‘why not?’, and we were asked to submit those questions in writing," she said.

Hewitt stressed that Infantino must answer the outstanding questions. She warned that his leadership will be under close watch until the necessary documents are released.

"I think the man has to answer those questions and if he doesn’t answer those questions now, he’s not fit to be FIFA president, and that was what was shared in the meeting," she said.

According to Hewitt, the Council needs access to the FFE documents to understand why the proposal was made and see if everyone acted correctly.

"The responses to those questions, which I still don’t have answers to, will determine from my personal point of view whether or not Gianni is the right candidate," she said.

She added that it would be hard to judge the actions of those involved without knowing what really happened.

Hewitt admitted that Infantino seemed sorry during the meeting, but she said his apology seemed to focus on not presenting the proposal to the Council.

"What he really apologised for was not bringing it to the Council. If you regret it that deeply, share it with us," she said.

UEFA, the governing body for European football, has been one of Infantino’s biggest critics. They have repeatedly called for him to resign.

The organization is also preparing legal actions against Infantino and has filed claims in three U.S. courts to get documents about the FFE proposal.

Hewitt said that sharing the documents with the Council would be a key step in finding out what happened and if any further action is needed.

"Those papers coming to Council are a crucial next part of us feeling comfortable as to what, if any, criminal proceedings need to take place," she said.

When asked if her view on Infantino changed after the meeting, Hewitt said nothing significant had changed.

"From my position, nothing has shifted. I’ve no new information that makes me feel any differently, other than we do have a president who is apologetic," she said.

The issue continues to put pressure on Infantino, with demands for more transparency about the dropped investment proposal and the decisions linked to it.