Zurich: Gianni Infantino apologised to his strongest critics seeking to oust him as FIFA president but provided no new details or documents on the issues concerning them at a crucial meeting of the governing body's council on Thursday.
Infantino presented no documents about the $4.2 billion World Cup commercial rights investment plan he launched and quickly abandoned in July.
He also offered no details to explain the Folarin Balogun red-card case at the World Cup or how US President Donald Trump intervened to help the national team forward.
FIFA will, however, review whether to continue awarding the peace prize it created and presented to Trump last December.
Infantino faced pressure from European football officials to provide written evidence about his secretive private equity plan for the World Cup, developed with investor Joshua Kushner. The proposal triggered a global rift and the biggest crisis of Infantino's nearly 11-year presidency.
He further frustrated the officials by asking them to submit written questions, FIFA vice-president Debbie Hewitt said after the three-and-a-half-hour meeting. It was the last council meeting before the November 18 deadline for candidates to enter the race against Infantino.
“The man has to answer those questions. If he doesn't answer those questions, no, he is not fit to be the FIFA president,” said Hewitt, who leads the English Football Association.
Infantino did not meet the media at FIFA headquarters on Thursday.
European football's governing body UEFA is leading efforts to remove Infantino before or during the FIFA presidential election in March. Thursday's meeting did little to change its position.
“No satisfactory answers were provided,” said German football leader Bernd Neuendorf, one of eight UEFA delegates on the 37-member FIFA Council chaired by Infantino.
The council is FIFA's main decision-making body and comprises officials from across the world. Most are presidents of their national federations, including Cindy Parlow Cone of the US. They are elected by their respective continental football bodies for four-year terms.
FIFA pays each council member an annual stipend of $250,000, while continental presidents receive $300,000.
Infantino angered football leaders in Europe, North America and Asia by working on the Kushner proposal in secret for months. The episode deepened a long-standing perception within UEFA that the FIFA president pursues major 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.
Infantino opened Thursday's meeting by apologising to his council colleagues for blindsiding them and triggering a furor over the private investment proposal with Kushner. The plan was revealed in media reports nine days after the World Cup final in July.
“He said that with some contrition,” Hewitt said.
For most of the past 50 years, FIFA voters from Africa have played a key role in determining who gains and retains power. The continent currently has 54 of FIFA's 211 member federations.
“The key point for us,” said FIFA Council member Ahmed Yahya, head of Mauritania's football federation, “is that we see Gianni as the right person to continue leading football.”
Infantino's proposal to provide an additional $15 million in FIFA funding to each of the 211 member federations over the next four years made progress on Thursday.
“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 will take place on March 18 in Rabat, Morocco. The country is a political ally of Infantino, and its football chief, Fouzi Lekjaa, is an influential council member. Morocco will also co-host the 2030 World Cup.
The FIFA Council is expected to meet next on December 16 in Doha, Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup and a supporter of Infantino.
Azerbaijan is another ally. Its most senior football official, Elkhan Mammadov, is an aide in Infantino's inner circle. The country will host a global boys' tournament for under-15 teams later this month, an event that could provide a lobbying opportunity for Infantino's campaign.
FIFA will also hold an additional online congress on November 23, five days after the candidate deadline, to confirm the hosts of the 2031 and 2035 Women's World Cups. The only bids are a joint proposal from the US, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica for 2031, and a bid from the four British football associations for 2035.
UEFA has also approached US courts seeking the right to obtain evidence for a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland.
The court filings allege possible mismanagement of FIFA finances in relation to the valuation Infantino assigned to a proposed subsidiary that would manage the commercial rights to tournaments.
The subsidiary was intended to be at least 20% owned by investors led by Kushner, the brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
In filings responding to UEFA's requests, FIFA's lawyers sought to delay or stop the evidence-gathering process, describing it as a “smear campaign” by UEFA.