FIFA chief Gianni Infantino has APOLOGISED for his deplorable efforts to flog the World Cup – but has defiantly vowed to fight on.
The 56-year-old admitted mistakes were made over the handling of the proposed scheme to sell shares of the World Cup enterprise to private investors.
In a joint letter signed by Infantino and secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, senior officials said: “We sincerely apologise for these errors and commit to them not happening again.
“We acknowledge that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media.
“With this in mind, we will conduct a necessary review, and a report will be presented to the FIFA Council at its next scheduled meeting.”
The letter confirmed that Fifa will carry out an internal review.
The findings will then be presented to the Fifa Council at its next scheduled meeting.
Officials insisted the proposal would have required approval from both Fifa’s 211 member associations and the Fifa Council.
They have acknowledged member associations and council members should not have felt excluded from the process.
And added that the proposal “should have been handled differently” – conceding further errors were made after details emerged to the public.
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But it has been confirmed that it has now been taken “off the table” following the controversy.
The statement also contained a strongly worded warning after confidential details of the proposal were leaked.
It said: “With the project withdrawn, Fifa will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation.”
But in spite of the apology, Fifa covered bases as they defended the legality of their actions.
They wrote: “Everything that was done, was done in full compliance with the Fifa regulatory framework.”
The letter also added unanimous backing for Infantino from Fifa’s senior leadership following a meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
They detailed how the president, secretary general, and administration spoke with “one voice and working as one team”.
With Infantino set to continue in his present role, he will not be without his critics.
Ballon d’Or winner and Uefa advisor Luis Figo slammed the president for “the lowest, most deceitful and cravenly self-interested” he has ever seen.
In a scathing critique of Fifa‘s incumbent, he concluded: “It is too late to save his dignity but it is not too late to save football.”
Even former disgraced Fifa president Sepp Blatter publicly called for Lise Klaveness to succeed Infantino.
He admitted: “The time is right for a woman to take the lead.”
BOMBSHELL documents exposed Gianni Infantino plotted to partner with the breakaway European Super League.
And it was even proposed to name it the ‘Fifa Super League’.
News broke in April 2021 of the 20-team league proposed to shake up club football.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham all signed up to the closed-shop division.
It would have created a new rival competition featuring 15 permanent members – also including co-founders Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus – and five qualifying teams.
But intense, furious backlash to the plans from excluded teams, football governing bodies and fans across the world saw the Super League collapse and be scrapped.
At the time, Fifa president Infantino told Uefa’s congress that his organisation condemned the proposed new league.
He said: “At Fifa, we can only strongly disapprove the creation of a Super League which is a closed shop, which is a breakaway from the current institutions, from the leagues, from the associations, from Uefa and from Fifa, which is outside of the system.
“There is no doubt whatsoever of Fifa’s disapproval for this.”
However, according to the Guardian, shocking files now allege he was very much part of the breakaway rebellion.
The report claims a term sheet – usually a precurser to a ratified and definitive contract – dated in October 2020 suggests naming the new league with Fifa’s branding.
The Guardian also suggests Fifa were willing to sideline its member associations in pushing plans to alter international windows and bypassed federations over Club World Cup proposals.
The Club World Cup would have been staged annually and directly connected to the new Super League.
And the damning documents, according to The Guardian, suggest Fifa are referred to as ‘WO1’ – a term used for high-ranking officers in the British army.
The report explains the term sheet said the Super League “is open to discuss naming the competition WO1 SL”.
It also stated Fifa would be “granted a preferred equity stake in the Super League”, thus ensuring the power to make decisions on format and calendar changes plus the appointment of a chief executive and distribution of funds.
When approached by SunSport for comment, Fifa sent links to articles posted in 2021 including Infantino’s comments to the Uefa congress and a signed statement from the Fifa boss plus the presidents of the six continental confederations refusing to recognise any unaffiliated, rival competitions.
Those publicly supporting Infantino are few to none, with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin leading the pack.
Ceferin snubbed the World Cup final following the fiasco surrounding Folarin Balogun’s suspended red card.
And since then, Arsene Wenger has joined the ranks against Infantino.
The Fifa president broke cover for the first time on Wednesday as he was seen in Morocco for an emergency meeting.
A Mercedes containing the beleaguered supremo was seen swooping into Fifa’s African base in Rabat.
According to The Times, Infantino had been holed up in Rabat and has called senior Fifa staff to the Moroccan capital for the urgent gathering.