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Live sport on SN this weekendInfantino apologises but FIFA boss only cops more flak
Jamie Gardner •  October 16th, 2026 9:01 am
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has come under more fire for his World Cup private investor plan | Photo: AP
England's Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt has led more criticism of Gianni Infantino, saying he's "not fit to be FIFA president" if he does not answer questions about his World Cup private investor plan or the Folarin Balogun case.
Hewitt, who is also a FIFA vice-president, was one of a number of FIFA Council members who tried to hold Infantino to account in Zurich on Thursday at its first meeting since the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan came to light.
Infantino apologised in the meeting for what he called "the mistakes that we made in relation to the communication and consultation process" regarding the FFE plan.
Hewitt said Council members had not received answers to "anything we had specifically requested" regarding FFE or the Balogun incident, where the United States striker's one-match ban was suspended following a call to Infantino from US President Donald Trump.
FIFA Council members want answers over how the Folarin Balogun World Cup ban got suspended | Photo: AP
Hewitt told reporters in Zurich: "The man has to answer those questions, and if he doesn't answer those questions, no, he's not fit to be FIFA president, and that was what was shared in the meeting.
"He's told us to submit those questions. There were so many of them, and now it's up to him to do that, and do that in the open way.
"The minimum is having the papers from FFE, because if there's nothing to hide, then share them with us."
FFE first became public knowledge in a report in English newspaper, The Times, on July 28.
Infantino sought to create a company to manage the commercial interests of FIFA's competitions, including the World Cup, but wanted a minority stake to be made available to private investors.
The lead investor was set to be Thrive, a company founded by President Trump's son-in-law's brother, Josh Kushner, but the plan was abandoned on August 1 after three continental confederations rejected it.
Despite Infantino's apology, European delegates said they left the Council meeting disappointed about what they saw as a lack of clarity about the main two disputes.
"No satisfactory answers were provided," said German soccer leader Bernd Neuendorf.
