The FIFA Council met Thursday in Zurich behind closed doors, and available information comes from the official FIFA communique and attendees, according to the communique and people in the room. Council members sought answers on a range of issues, including the failed attempt to spin off FIFA’s commercial arm and sell it to Josh Kushner’s private equity group, FIFA’s large cash reserves, the suspension and subsequent lifting of Folarin Balogun’s World Cup ban, and the origins of the FIFA Peace Prize.
Infantino apologized for what his camp described as mistakes, including the secret negotiations over a portion of FIFA’s revenue, and called for unity, according to ESPN. His loyalists pointed to a plan to increase payments to member associations to $6.35 billion over four years and the creation of a working group to review governance issues as measures meant to stabilize the organization, according to ESPN.
Opponents told ESPN they were disappointed by a lack of detail and documentation from the president and that there was insufficient support to establish an independent external committee to investigate the complaints against him. The opposition also noted ongoing legal filings against Infantino and described parts of his leadership team as disillusioned, a group that includes Kevin Lamour, the former chief operating officer who resigned in August in protest over the Kushner plan, according to ESPN.
There is more than a month remaining to field a challenger ahead of the March elections, and no candidate had emerged at the time of the meeting. UEFA has not pursued its most extreme options, and its president, Aleksander Ceferin, was not publicly threatening withdrawal from FIFA competitions. A working group rather than an independent audit could produce a slow review or a whitewash, observers warned, but the appointment of Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman to a role on governance matters was seen as potentially significant.
Other items under review, including the FIFA Peace Prize and disciplinary procedures related to the Balogun case, were assigned to in-house committees and are expected to produce routine outcomes. Separately, a U.S. court filing seeks permission to obtain testimony and documents from FIFA and others connected to the failed deal.
