Infantino apologises but retains FIFA backing after Rabat emergency meeting

FIFA president Gianni Infantino issued a public apology for a secret scheme to sell part of the organisation’s commercial rights to private investors, but he kept his job after the governing body publicly backed him at an emergency meeting in Rabat, Morocco.

The crisis, which generated broad criticism and even threats of boycott, ended with the Executive Council reiterating support for Infantino despite the backlash. "After the meeting in Rabat, the FIFA general secretary and the members of the executive body present confirmed their full support for President Gianni Infantino, as the sole official elected by the 211 member associations. In return, the President reiterated his full support for the general secretary and the administration for their exceptional work in implementing his vision," the statement said.

Infantino apologised in a letter to the FIFA Council and to the member associations, a missive he co-signed with General Secretary Matias Grafström. The two said they "sincerely apologise for the mistakes" and pledged that they "will not be repeated," acknowledging the misstep that became public after media reports.

The controversial scheme — fast proposed and quickly shelved — envisaged creating a new company called "FIFA Forward Enterprise" and selling a portion of World Cup and other competition commercial rights to private investors, with projected proceeds of around $4.2 billion.

Reports said the arrangement would have awarded Infantino $30 million personally, while each of FIFA’s 211 member associations would have received $20 million as an incentive to support the plan. The secrecy around the proposal, including the undisclosed identity of a potential investor, intensified the uproar; media reports named Joshua Kushner — brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the current U.S. president Donald Trump — as a purported interested party.

FIFA’s statement accepted that errors were made in how the proposal was handled and said the item had been removed from the organisation’s agenda. "There are always lessons to be learned, and FIFA will continue to improve its processes in light of this experience. However, in this case it is important to stress that, although mistakes were made, everything that was done was carried out fully in accordance with FIFA's regulatory framework," the statement said.

With the Forward Enterprise proposal off the table, FIFA vowed to defend its integrity and take measures against attacks on its reputation; for now the Executive Council has left Infantino in place while the organisation says it will review internal procedures.

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