Infantino apologized, but failed to convince critics

15.10.2026 18:01 HotInfo

FIFA President Gianni Infantino apologized to his biggest critics on Thursday at the FIFA Council meeting in Zurich. However, the talks, which lasted more than three and a half hours, did not bring the answers that European football officials had demanded. n-tv ↗

Infantino is under pressure over the July plan to sell 20 percent of the World Cup rights to private investors for 4.2 billion dollars. Critics are demanding the disclosure of all documents and a detailed explanation of the intention. According to them, the apology alone was not enough, and the FIFA president did not provide satisfactory answers to the key questions. teraz.sk ↗

After the talks, UEFA representatives continued to question Infantino's ability to lead world football. Calls also emerged for his resignation or early departure from office. Critics further stated that without the disclosure of the documents and clarification of the disputed decisions, they do not consider Infantino a suitable candidate to lead FIFA. Tagesspiegel ↗

The talks were the first direct meeting between the FIFA president and his European opponents since the summer World Cup and the failure of the plans for the commercial use of future tournaments. According to available information, Infantino did not present any new details that would resolve the dispute. Deutschlandfunk ↗

Tensions at the top of world football thus continue. Further developments will depend mainly on whether FIFA discloses the requested documents and whether Infantino answers the questions concerning the investment plan. BBC News ↗

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