Infantino Apologizes Over World Cup Sale Plan, Unwilling to Give Up FIFA Presidency

Beijing time, August 6: FIFA president Gianni Infantino has publicly apologized for an attempt to sell the World Cup and confirmed that the controversial plan has been canceled. Last week, after media reports exposed the proposal, FIFA announced a plan to sell its various competitions to private investors. The move triggered strong opposition across the football world, and Infantino faced intense public criticism as a result.

If the plan had gone ahead, UEFA members unanimously voted to boycott competitions under FIFA. Amid continuing criticism from various parties and repeated leaks concerning the plan, an emergency meeting was held in Morocco on Wednesday.

Infantino has now admitted defeat and publicly apologized. Despite widespread calls for him to resign, he still plans to remain in office as FIFA president. A letter jointly signed by Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom stated: “We acknowledge that some mistakes were also made after the proposal was leaked to the media. We sincerely apologize for these mistakes and commit that such incidents will not happen again. To this end, we will conduct the necessary review and submit a report at the next FIFA Council meeting.”

Previously, FIFA said that any football association supporting the plan had been told it would receive £30 million if it responded positively before the September deadline, with part of the money to arrive in January. The president of the Jordan Football Association even accused Infantino of bribery on social media. JFA president Ali Bin Al-Hussein posted: “Jordan is proud to uphold its moral values. We did not support him in the past, and certainly will not now. But the whole thing is extortion, and we will never give in.”