Rome, 15 Oct. (LaPresse/AP) – During a meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee held today, Thursday 15 October, President Gianni Infantino apologised to his harshest critics, without, however, providing any new details or documents on the issues of greatest concern to them. No documents were presented regarding the $4.2 billion plan for the sale of World Cup rights – a project launched and then abandoned in July. Nor did any details emerge regarding the red card shown to Folarin Balogun during the World Cup, or US President Donald Trump’s intervention in support of the national team striker. FIFA, the governing body of world football, will nevertheless consider whether to continue awarding the Peace Prize, established last December and awarded to Donald Trump. According to reports from Debbie Hewitt, FIFA’s vice-president, at the end of the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, Infantino – pressed by European football executives to provide written evidence regarding his confidential plan to involve private investors in the World Cup (which has caused a global rift) – asked them to submit their questions in writing. “This man must answer those questions. If he does not, then no, he is not fit to hold the office of FIFA president,” said Hewitt, head of the English Football Association. UEFA, the governing body of European football, is at the forefront of efforts to remove Infantino before or during the FIFA presidential elections scheduled for March; what emerged on Thursday was not enough to change the minds of European leaders. “No satisfactory answers have been provided,” said Bernd Neuendorf, the head of German football and one of the eight UEFA delegates on the FIFA Council – which comprises 37 members and is chaired by Infantino. The Council had not met since Infantino triggered the crisis. “We need a person of integrity, someone capable of restoring the organisation’s reputation, which has undoubtedly been lost,” Neuendorf added to journalists. At the start of the meeting, Infantino apologised to his Council colleagues for taking them by surprise and for causing a stir with his plan – which involved private investor Joshua Kushner – which emerged from media reports nine days after the World Cup final in July. UEFA has also filed an application with the US courts to obtain evidence to support a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland. The court documents allege possible mismanagement of FIFA’s finances in relation to the valuation assigned to the subsidiary company that was supposed to manage the tournament’s commercial rights. At least 20 per cent was to be owned by investors led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
FIFA: Infantino apologises, but the opposition attacks: “He is not fit to hold the post”
Rome, 15 Oct. (LaPresse/AP) – During a meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee held today, Thursday 15 October, President Gianni Infantino apologised to his harshest critics, without, however, providing any new details or documents on the issues of greatest concern to them. No documents were presented regarding the $4.2 billion plan for the sale of World Cup rights – a project launched and then abandoned in July. Nor did any details emerge regarding the red card shown to Folarin Balogun during the World Cup, or US President Donald Trump’s intervention in support of the national team striker. FIFA, the governing body of world football, will nevertheless consider whether to continue awarding the Peace Prize, established last December and awarded to Donald Trump. According to reports from Debbie Hewitt, FIFA’s vice-president, at the end of the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, Infantino – pressed by European football executives to provide written evidence regarding his confidential plan to involve private investors in the World Cup (which has caused a global rift) – asked them to submit their questions in writing. “This man must answer those questions. If he does not, then no, he is not fit to hold the office of FIFA president,” said Hewitt, head of the English Football Association. UEFA, the governing body of European football, is at the forefront of efforts to remove Infantino before or during the FIFA presidential elections scheduled for March; what emerged on Thursday was not enough to change the minds of European leaders. “No satisfactory answers have been provided,” said Bernd Neuendorf, the head of German football and one of the eight UEFA delegates on the FIFA Council – which comprises 37 members and is chaired by Infantino. The Council had not met since Infantino triggered the crisis. “We need a person of integrity, someone capable of restoring the organisation’s reputation, which has undoubtedly been lost,” Neuendorf added to journalists. At the start of the meeting, Infantino apologised to his Council colleagues for taking them by surprise and for causing a stir with his plan – which involved private investor Joshua Kushner – which emerged from media reports nine days after the World Cup final in July. UEFA has also filed an application with the US courts to obtain evidence to support a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland. The court documents allege possible mismanagement of FIFA’s finances in relation to the valuation assigned to the subsidiary company that was supposed to manage the tournament’s commercial rights. At least 20 per cent was to be owned by investors led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.