The state of Gianni Infantino as president of FIFA isn't going down well. This all started when he had the bright idea of selling off a percentage of the World Cup rights to private investors.
Public outrage forced the president to scrap the plans. Most confederations, particularly UEFA, want him to resign. He hasn't done so and he has only now apologised for the failed plan.
Gianni Infantino apologised to FIFA's ruling council on Thursday for "mistakes" in his secretive investment plan for the World Cup but didn't give details sought by his toughest critics who want to oust him as the president of football's governing body.
Football officials came to the meeting in Zurich hoping to receive more information about two of the biggest controversies that have surrounded Infantino this year: his now-aborted $4.2 billion World Cup sell-off plan and the Folarin Balogun red-card case at the World Cup where President Donald Trump intervened.
Despite Infantino's apology, European delegates said they left the meeting disappointed about what they saw as a lack of clarity about the two disputes.
"No satisfactory answers were provided," said German football leader Bernd Neuendorf, one of eight delegates from European football confederation UEFA in the 37-member FIFA Council that Infantino chairs.
Infantino provided no documents about the $4.2 billion World Cup sell-off plan he launched and quickly dropped in July amid a fierce backlash led from Europe.
Nor did he give details to explain the Balogun red-card case at the World Cup or how Trump intervened to help the national team forward; European delegates at the meeting later told reporters.
FIFA will, however, review whether to continue awarding the peace prize that was created to give to Trump last December.
Infantino frustrated European delegates by asking for questions in writing at their only meeting before the 18 November deadline to propose a candidate to oppose him at FIFA's presidential election in March.
Infantino was pressed by European football officials for written evidence about his secretive private equity plan for a World Cup commercial rights subsidiary with investor Joshua Kushner, Trump's son-in-law.
Known as FIFA Forward Enterprise, the proposal provoked a global rift and the biggest crisis of Infantino's near 11-year presidency.
The FIFA president didn't speak to media after the 3 1/2-hour meeting in Zurich but issued a video statement.
"I apologised 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," Infantino said. He noted that it was "just a proposal, so in no way a done deal."
FIFA said in a separate statement details of the investor project "remain confidential due to ongoing legal proceedings in the United States."
The council is the main decision-making body at FIFA with a global spread of officials - most are presidents of their national federation, like Cindy Parlow Cone of the U.S.A. - who are elected by their continental soccer bodies for four-year terms.
FIFA pays each an annual stipend of $250,000, with $300,000 for the continental presidents. European football's ruling body UEFA is leading attempts to remove Infantino before or at the FIFA presidential election in March.
Infantino infuriated football leaders in Europe, North America and Asia by working for months in secret on the Kushner plan. It deepened a long-standing perception in UEFA that the FIFA boss plans his biggest projects without consulting them.
"We need a person of integrity, someone who can be expected to restore the reputation of the association, which has undoubtedly been lost," Neuendorf told reporters.
UEFA also has asked courts in the United States for the right to get evidence for a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland. The court filings allege possible mismanagement of FIFA finances in the value he put on the intended subsidiary running tournament commercial rights.
It was to be at least 20% owned by investors led by Kushner, the brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. FIFA lawyers' filings in response to stall or stop the evidence requests said they were a "smear campaign" by UEFA.
For most of the last 50 years, FIFA voters from Africa - which now counts 54 of the 211 member federations - have been key to gaining and staying in power.
"The key point for us," said FIFA Council member Ahmed Yahya, the head of Mauritania's football federation, "is that we see Gianni as the right person to continue leading football."
Infantino's offer to add $15 million in FIFA funding to each of the 211 members over the next four years made progress on Thursday. They already were sure to get $10 million each from FIFA through to 2030.
"I've said that President Gianni Infantino is taking football forward worldwide," Yahya said. "I come from the African continent and know what I'm talking about."
The FIFA presidential election meeting is on 18 March in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, which is a political ally of Infantino. Its football leader, Fouzi Lekjaa, is an influential council member. Morocco will co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
Morocco also is competing with Spain, an influential member of UEFA, to host the final in 2030. That FIFA decision is a potential factor in election alliances until March.
The FIFA Council should next meet on 16 December in Doha, Qatar - the 2022 World Cup host that still is loyal to Infantino.
Another ally is Azerbaijan - whose most senior football official Elkhan Mammadov is an aide in Infantino's inner circle -- which will host a global boys' tournament for under-15 teams later this month. That event shapes to be a lobbying opportunity for his campaign.
FIFA is moving to amend its regulations to prevent a repeat of the controversial decision to suspend Balogun's World Cup ban. According to ESPN, the governing body will consider a motion to prohibit the suspension of automatic one-match bans in the future.
The initial decision by FIFA's disciplinary committee to suspend the penalty imposed on the United States forward sparked widespread outcry across global football. Critics claimed the move amounted to political interference after US President Donald Trump admitted he had personally asked Infantino to review the ban.
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Football Association chair and FIFA vice president, Debbie Hewitt, has written to Infantino requesting the release of documents regarding the case. Infantino has maintained that the disciplinary committee reached its conclusion completely independently.
The proposed rule change comes as Infantino faces the biggest crisis of his nearly 11-year presidency ahead of a FIFA Council meeting in Zurich. Council members are preparing to challenge the administrator on several key governance issues and controversial proposals.
Beyond the Balogun verdict, Infantino has drawn sharp criticism over his close ties to political figures and potential conflicts of interest. Football officials are demanding greater transparency regarding recent decision-making processes within the organisation.
Formal complaints have also been lodged regarding a peace prize created by Infantino and awarded to Trump at the World Cup draw in Washington D.C. FIFA Council member Bernd Neuendorf requested the item be added to the meeting agenda.
Sepp Blatter has mocked the speech his successor Gianni Infantino delivered to members of the FIFA Council in Zurich on Thursday. The Swiss ran world football's governing body before him.
Infantino used the speech to apologise, with criticism raining down on him since news broke of his plan to open the World Cup up to private sector investors.
"I would like to say that we apologise for the mistakes made in managing this project and in communicating about it, which has had many consequences," the current FIFA president said, before promising a financial package worth 25 million dollars for every national association.
Figures across the game tore into the speech. Even inside the FIFA Council, Infantino failed to win unanimous backing.
Blatter, FIFA president between 1998 and 2015, took to X to twist the knife: "Gianni Infantino, the greatest! An astonishing performance in Zurich: Infantino, who appears to be a good Catholic, confesses his sins and then promises 25 million. Confession, forgiveness and absolution, all in a single appearance! The Pope must be delighted."
He signed off with a line that cut deeper: "But in football, as in the Church, credibility cannot be bought."
The newspaper, Sport, citing Sky Sport Germany, reported that some parties within UEFA and the German federation have put forward the name of David Beckham, the England legend, as one of the options on the table to take on Infantino. These moves began with the most recent FIFA Council meeting, which ended in deeply disappointing fashion for Infantino's critics.
UEFA turned up armed with a set of questions on key issues such as commercial rights and television broadcasting rights. Infantino once again dodged direct answers, all while paving his way towards a fourth presidential term.
Time is squeezing the opposing bloc. The official deadline for registering nominations with FIFA expires on 18 November.
German Football Association president Bernd Neuendorf acknowledged as much in exclusive comments to RTL and Sky Sport, saying: "We are sticking to the objective of seeing someone else at the head of FIFA, and that of course requires presenting an alternative candidate."
After the summit that brought together the presidents of the European federations in Berlin, UEFA set out the criteria required to choose the right figure for the post.
Their candidate must be a respected figure enjoying wide acceptance within the world of football, with administrative experience and the ability to build alliances between the continental confederations; alongside a firm commitment to integrity and reform.
One criterion came up again and again in that meeting of federation officials: the candidate must possess the appeal and international presence to compete with the extensive media reach and considerable institutional influence Infantino enjoys.
Among the names doing the rounds in European circles, Beckham's is the most eye-catching and unconventional of the lot.
The former England star brings qualifications you rarely find among the traditional leadership of sports federations. His global fame and financial independence combine with genuine executive influence, which he has demonstrated as a co-owner of Inter Miami in Major League Soccer, the project that was crowned by the signing of Lionel Messi.
His close links to the North American market also make him a suitable bridge between European football and CONCACAF, one of the parties UEFA is seeking to win over in order to build an alternative majority to the pro-Infantino bloc, which maintains its influence in Africa and Asia.
Appealing as the proposal is, pursuing it involves enormous difficulties. Beckham has historically maintained a very close relationship with Infantino himself and has taken an active part in FIFA's official events and campaigns.
FIFA also will host an extraordinary congress on 23 November - five days after the candidate deadline - to confirm hosts for the Women's World Cup in 2031 and 2035. The only bids are a U.S.-Mexico-Costa Rica-Jamaica plan for 2031 and the four United Kingdom federations for 2035.
This was poorly timed. He should've done this in July/early August. This apology is meaningless now. If he was truly apologetic, he would've disclosed everything. Since he's kept a few things hush-hush; to me, Infantino was completely disingenuous in his apology.
It would be interesting to see David Beckham as a FIFA president. It would be weird. I would welcome that election.