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Fifa president Gianni Infantino has opened the door to reforms at world football’s governing body, proposing an independent review of its governance structure amid mounting criticism over his abandoned plan to sell a stake in Fifa’s commercial rights to private investors.
Infantino made the proposal in a letter to members of the Fifa Council and presidents of all 211 member associations, ahead of the council’s meeting on October 15. He said the proposed review would examine how major strategic decisions are made and recommend possible improvements.
The move follows the collapse of the controversial Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, which involved creating a commercial company to manage the governing body’s competitions and selling a minority stake to private investors.
The plan, which included commercial rights linked to the World Cup, was withdrawn in July after opposition from several football authorities.
Infantino acknowledged that the proposal became public before Fifa’s internal process had been completed, saying this created the impression that decisions had already been taken.
“I recognise that, without the full context, this caused concern and created the impression that decisions had already been taken. They had not.”
He also insisted that the proposal never involved surrendering Fifa’s control over sporting matters.
“FIFA’s democratic processes, independence and sporting authority were never for sale. They are not for sale and never will be.”
Infantino said the proposed review would consider the respective roles of the Fifa president, Bureau, Council and Congress, while examining ways to strengthen transparency, participation and accountability in major strategic decisions.
He also proposed a structured consultation involving confederations, member associations and other stakeholders.
The reform proposal comes as opposition to Infantino’s leadership has intensified. Uefa and Concacaf have called for an independent review of Fifa’s finances and proposed distributing at least $10 million to each of the organisation’s 211 member associations from its reserves for the 2027-30 cycle. The proposal would amount to at least $2.1 billion.
Infantino, however, made clear that the governance discussion would not include stepping aside. He said he remained committed to leading Fifa and would seek a fourth term when the presidential election is held in March 2027.
“I remain fully committed to leading FIFA and confident in what we can achieve together.”
He said proposals submitted ahead of the October 15 council meeting could be considered at that session, while any changes to Fifa’s statutes would subsequently require approval through Congress.
The reform debate is unfolding as Infantino faces continued scrutiny over the FFE plan, with Uefa pursuing legal action in the United States and Fifa accusing the European governing body of conducting a “smear campaign against it and its leadership”.
