Fifa council members are expected to insist that Gianni Infantino broaden his proposed independent governance review to cover the cancelled World Cup commercial deal and the controversy involving Folarin Balogun.
In a letter distributed to all 211 Fifa member associations on Monday, Infantino said he would ask the council to approve an assessment of “Fifa’s existing governance framework for major strategic initiatives” at its next meeting in Zurich on 15 October. However, disagreement is emerging internally over the scope of that investigation.
Debbie Hewitt, chair of the Football Association, contacted Infantino last week to request the disclosure of every document connected to the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) project, which was cancelled last month. She also sought information explaining why Fifa removed Balogun’s suspension during the World Cup, with several other council members supporting her demands.
One council representative argued that any review excluding a retrospective examination of FFE and the Balogun case would have little credibility. Another claimed Infantino was trying to avoid direct scrutiny by focusing on future governance arrangements instead of previous disputes.
The Fifa council consists of 28 delegates representing the six continental confederations, eight vice-presidents, Infantino and the organisation’s secretary general, Mattias Grafström.
Shortly after the Balogun controversy, several council members tried to arrange an extraordinary general meeting. The attempt followed the decision to overturn the US forward’s suspension for the World Cup last-32 match against Belgium after Donald Trump called Infantino, but the group failed to secure the required 19 votes.
The European, Asian, and North and Central American and Caribbean confederations opposing Infantino collectively hold 21 of the council’s 38 seats. That total, however, includes representatives from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia who have publicly declared their support for the president.
Bernd Neuendorf, president of the German football federation, reflected the European position this week by calling Infantino’s proposed governance review a cynical re-election tactic. Even so, any council vote on the proposal is expected to be closely contested.
Neuendorf said he viewed Infantino’s letter as an obvious attempt to strengthen his prospects of winning another term next year. He added that although Fifa appeared to accept the need for change, Infantino was not the appropriate person to oversee the reform process.
Infantino said on Wednesday that his letter had attracted a favourable response. He made the remarks while attending the opening evening of the Arabian Gulf Cup in Jeddah before travelling to New York for meetings linked to the United Nations General Assembly.
Infantino said he welcomed responses to his letter and had already received encouraging messages from several regions. He stressed the importance of continued communication across Saudi Arabia and all 211 Fifa member associations.
He added that the council meeting scheduled for the following month would provide another opportunity to discuss the issues, arguing that the organisation should promote dialogue, attentive listening and mutual respect.
Infantino maintained that the initiative was not intended to produce favourable publicity but to serve football’s interests. He said he remained fully committed to hearing different views and helping the sport develop for people around the world.
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