Infantino apologises to Fifa council as governance questions remain

Gianni Infantino apologised to Fifa’s council in Zurich over the handling of an abandoned commercial-rights proposal, the BBC reported on 15 October 2026, but Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt said he still needed to answer questions to demonstrate his fitness to remain president.¹

Questions after the apology

According to the BBC, council members sought answers from Infantino regarding Fifa Forward Enterprise, Folarin Balogun’s suspension, the Fifa Peace Prize and financial support for national associations. Infantino said he would provide written answers, while Hewitt, who is also a Fifa vice-president, said many questions had not been resolved at the meeting.¹

The Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal would have transferred some of the governing body’s commercial rights to a private investment firm, the BBC reported. Infantino stressed that it had been a proposal rather than a concluded agreement. His apology concerned mistakes in communication and consultation surrounding the project.¹

Hewitt made her assessment of his leadership conditional on his response to the outstanding questions. “From my position, nothing has shifted,” she said. The BBC also reported that Uefa had prepared criminal legal proceedings against Infantino and filed claims in three US courts seeking documents concerning the proposal.¹

Pressure for a governance review

Before the meeting, the Guardian reported that three confederation presidents – Uefa’s Aleksander Ceferin, Concacaf’s Victor Montagliani and the Asian Football Confederation’s Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa – had called for Infantino’s resignation and planned to press for an independent examination of Fifa’s governance.²

Infantino had pledged an external governance review in response to letters from the three presidents, according to the Guardian. Its 14 October report said details had not emerged and that there were doubts about the review’s independence.²

The Guardian also cited a Times report that Infantino received about £1.3m in 2024 beyond the £3.9m disclosed in Fifa’s accounts. It reported a $1.76m payment by a Fifa subsidiary that was not mentioned in the annual report. Fifa denied paying a second salary and said it met compensation-disclosure requirements, used independent auditors and complied with tax rules.²

Committee scrutiny and an election

The BBC reported that Fifa’s social committee would investigate how the Peace Prize was awarded to President Donald Trump and report in December. The council also considered changing disciplinary rules to prevent an automatic one-match suspension following a red card from being suspended; the legal committee is due to review the code in December.¹

Despite the opposition, neither outlet identified an established challenger to Infantino’s re-election bid. The Guardian reported that Montagliani had declined calls to stand and that Uefa had sounded out Arsène Wenger and Michele Kang without securing an alternative candidate. The BBC said Ramon Vega intended to run but appeared unlikely to obtain the five supporting letters required from member associations.¹²

Candidates have until 18 November to declare, and the Guardian reported that the election would take place at Fifa’s congress in Rabat on 18 March. Fifa’s 211 member associations are entitled to vote. According to the BBC, Infantino was returned without opposition in both 2019 and 2023.¹²