Fifa President Gianni Infantino is scheduled to be questioned by council members on Thursday at what is anticipated to be a heated meeting at the world governing body’s headquarters. The agenda includes his involvement in the aborted World Cup sell-off plan, the Folarin Balogun affair, and the decision to award Donald Trump the inaugural Fifa peace prize.
Infantino previously rejected calls for an extraordinary general meeting over the controversial Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposals. This meeting will be his first encounter with critics since then, with one attendee predicting the talks could be “explosive.”
Aleksander Ceferin, Victor Montagliani, and Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, presidents of Uefa, Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation respectively, will be present. All three have called for Infantino's resignation and will press for an independent review of Fifa’s governance. Infantino had pledged an external review of Fifa’s future governance last month, but details are pending, leading to scepticism about its independence.
In addition to these issues, Infantino is expected to face questions regarding a report claiming he received a “second salary” of about £1.3m in 2024, on top of the £3.9m declared in Fifa’s accounts. Fifa denies any wrongdoing, stating it complies with all reporting requirements and that its accounts are independently audited.
Despite these controversies and public opposition from several confederations, Infantino is currently on course to be re-elected unopposed in the March election. The deadline for candidates to declare their intention to stand is 18 November, with the election set for 18 March at the Fifa congress in Rabat.