Fifa chief Infantino apologises over failed World Cup sell-off but fails to satisfy council members

FIFA President Gianni Infantino faced criticism from senior members of FIFA's global governing body over his attempts to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, offering no satisfactory answers but issuing an apology for the failed project.

The proposal, known as the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), faced widespread opposition and was ultimately abandoned.

Despite calls for Infantino's resignation, he is running for re-election and has promised to provide further information on the matter.

FIFA announced its intention to establish a $6.35 billion development fund, with plans to finalize this initiative at the next council meeting in December.

ZURICH, Oct 16 — Fifa president Gianni Infantino gave “no satisfactory answers” when grilled yesterday during a meeting to discuss his attempts to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, senior members of football’s global governing body said, but he did offer an apology for the failed project.

“We asked a great many critical questions, but there were no satisfactory answers from my point of view,” said Bernd Neuendorf, the head of the German Football Association (DFB), who is also a member of the Fifa Council.

Neuendorf was speaking after the Council met behind closed doors at the body’s Zurich headquarters, where Infantino’s Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal was one of the main topics on the agenda.

Infantino has been under severe pressure since his announcement in late July that he wanted to open Fifa’s premium competitions such as the World Cup to private investors.

That plan was ultimately abandoned in the face of widespread criticism, with a rebellion led by European governing body Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and CONCACAF, which runs the sport in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

“I apologised for the mistakes that we made in relation to the communication and consultation process related to the Fifa Forward Enterprise project,” Infantino said in a video published by Fifa.

“But what is important to remember is that it was a proposal, so in no way a done deal, just a proposal, that actually intended to enable Fifa to invest more in our member associations.”

However, the Fifa chief reaffirmed that the FFE initiative “has been permanently withdrawn and will not reappear in any form”.

Infantino has headed Fifa since 2016 and is running for re-election next March, despite calls for him to stand down in the wake of the FFE plan.

For the moment, no heavyweight candidate has put themselves forward to run against him.

Debbie Hewitt, the chair of the English Football Association who is also a Fifa vice-president, told reporters that Infantino is “not fit to be Fifa president” unless he releases all documents pertaining to the failed sell-off plan and answers key questions.

Hewitt and Neuendorf are among the 36 members of the Fifa Council, along with Infantino.

“We were asked to submit our questions” in relation to the plan which was not put to the Fifa Council before the July announcement, Hewitt said.

“One of the disappointing things was we didn’t get answers. We didn’t get answers to anything we had specifically requested, for example getting the papers from FFE, and so we asked the question why and why not.”

Many leading European national associations have withdrawn their support for Infantino in the upcoming election because of the uproar caused by FFE and other controversies, including his relationship with US president Donald Trump.

Chief among those were Infantino’s decision to create a Fifa Peace Prize and award it to Trump at last December’s World Cup draw, and the decision to suspend a ban for United States striker Folarin Balogun following a red card during the World Cup after Trump intervened directly by phoning Infantino.

“I speak for myself as a Council member—from my position nothing has shifted,” Hewitt added. “I have no new information that makes me feel any differently to how I felt when I went in, other than we do have a president of FIFA who is apologetic about what has happened, and secondly a promise again that we will get the information that we have requested.”

FIFA confirmed its intention to set up a $6.35-billion development fund for the next four years, a plan which is expected to be finalised by the Council at its next meeting in December.

To finance the fund, which would allow money to be distributed to Fifa’s 211 federations as well as to the regional confederations, it would draw in part on its financial reserves after a commercially successful 2026 World Cup.

The plan would allow for the payment of US$25 million to all 211 member federations.

Infantino may hope the latest plan reinforces his position ahead of the election.

The deadline for submitting candidacies is November 18. — AFP

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国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺因试图将世界杯股份出售给私人投资者而受到国际足联高级成员的批评，他没有给出令人满意的答案，但为这个失败的项目发表了道歉声明。

该提案名为“国际足联前进企业”（FFE），遭到广泛反对，最终被放弃。

尽管有人呼吁因凡蒂诺辞职，但他仍在竞选连任，并承诺将就此事提供进一步的信息。

国际足联宣布计划设立 63.5 亿美元的发展基金，并计划在 12 月的下一次理事会会议上最终确定这项计划。

苏黎世，10 月 16 日——国际足联主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺昨天在一次会议上被质询时“没有给出令人满意的答案”，该会议旨在讨论他试图将世界杯股份出售给私人投资者的计划。国际足联高级成员表示，因凡蒂诺确实为这个失败的项目表示了歉意。

“我们提出了许多关键问题，但从我的角度来看，没有得到令人满意的答案，”德国足球协会（DFB）主席、国际足联理事会成员贝恩德·诺伊恩多夫说道。

诺伊恩多夫是在国际足联理事会于苏黎世总部举行闭门会议后发表上述讲话的，会议议程上的主要议题之一是因凡蒂诺提出的国际足联前进企业（FFE）提案。

自 7 月下旬因凡蒂诺宣布希望向私人投资者开放国际足联顶级赛事（如世界杯）以来，他一直承受着巨大的压力。

该计划最终因受到广泛批评而被放弃，欧洲足球管理机构欧足联、亚洲足球联合会（亚足联）和中北美及加勒比海足球协会（中北美洲及加勒比海地区足球协会）领导了一场反对运动。

“对于我们在与国际足联前进企业项目相关的沟通和咨询过程中所犯的错误，我表示歉意，”因凡蒂诺在国际足联发布的一段视频中说道。

“但重要的是要记住，这只是一个提议，远未成定局，仅仅是一个提议，其实际目的是为了让国际足联能够对我们的成员协会进行更多投资。”

然而，国际足联主席重申，FFE倡议“已被永久撤回，不会以任何形式再次出现”。

因凡蒂诺自 2016 年以来一直担任国际足联主席，尽管在 FFE 计划之后有人呼吁他下台，但他仍将于明年 3 月竞选连任。

目前，还没有任何重量级候选人站出来与他竞争。

英格兰足球协会主席兼国际足联副主席黛比·休伊特告诉记者，除非因凡蒂诺公布所有与失败的出售计划有关的文件并回答关键问题，否则他“不适合担任国际足联主席”。

休伊特和诺伊恩多夫与因凡蒂诺一起，都是国际足联理事会的 36 名成员之一。

休伊特说：“我们被要求提交与该计划相关的问题”，该计划在7月份宣布之前并未提交给国际足联理事会。

“令人失望的事情之一是我们没有得到答复。我们提出的任何具体要求都没有得到答复，例如从FFE获取文件，所以我们问了为什么。

由于欧洲自由欧洲联盟（FFE）和其他争议事件（包括他与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的关系）引发的轩然大波，许多欧洲主要国家协会已撤回对因凡蒂诺在即将到来的选举中的支持。

其中最主要的是因凡蒂诺决定设立国际足联和平奖，并在去年 12 月的世界杯抽签仪式上将其授予特朗普；以及在特朗普直接致电因凡蒂诺进行干预后，决定暂停对美国前锋福拉林·巴洛贡在世界杯期间被红牌罚下的禁赛处罚。

“我以理事会成员的身份发言——就我的立场而言，一切都没有改变，”休伊特补充道。“除了国际足联主席对所发生的事情表示歉意，以及再次承诺我们会得到我们所要求的信息之外，我没有任何新的信息让我改变我最初的想法。”

国际足联确认将在未来四年设立 63.5 亿美元的发展基金，该计划预计将在 12 月的理事会下次会议上最终确定。

为了筹集资金，该基金将允许向国际足联的 211 个成员协会以及各地区联合会分配资金，国际足联将在 2026 年世界杯取得商业成功后，部分动用其财政储备。

该计划将允许向所有 211 个成员协会支付 2500 万美元。

因凡蒂诺或许希望这项最新计划能在选举前巩固他的地位。

提交候选人资格申请的截止日期为11月18日。——法新社

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