FIFA president Gianni Infantino apologised to members during a three-and-a-half-hour FIFA Council meeting in Zurich over the FIFA Forward Enterprise project, a plan to transfer the organisation's commercial rights to a private investment firm. "First of all 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. Debbie Hewitt, chair of England's Football Association (FA) and a FIFA vice-president, insisted that he had failed to answer the key questions.
Tensions have reached boiling point. "I think the man has to answer those questions and if he doesn't answer those questions, no, he's not fit to be FIFA president," Hewitt said bluntly. The meeting also covered the overturning of United States forward Folarin Balogun's red card after Donald Trump intervened, as well as the decision to award Trump the FIFA Peace Prize. UEFA has launched legal action against Infantino in the US courts, and Arsene Wenger is being considered as a challenger to Infantino in the March election. Candidates have until 18 November to come forward, and the votes of FIFA's 211 member associations will ultimately decide the presidency.
