FIFA's president has said sorry to the Council over his World Cup sell-off plan, but he is being pushed to do far more to rebuild trust.
African football has a real stake in the fight over how FIFA is run, and the latest drama around Gianni Infantino shows why. The FIFA president has apologised to the Council for his World Cup sell-off plan, but the apology has not ended the argument. Federations across the continent, and the confederation that speaks for them, depend on decisions made in these rooms.
Infantino addressed the Council directly and acknowledged the plan caused problems. The message from those listening was clear: sorry is a start, not a finish. He has been asked to go further, and the pressure is on him to show what that looks like in practice.
The bigger issue is trust. The World Cup is the most valuable asset in the sport, and any plan to sell it off raises questions about who benefits and who gets a say. For African nations, the World Cup is a major source of visibility, development funding and national pride. Governance choices at the top of the game shape what reaches the grassroots in Lagos, Dakar, Nairobi and beyond.
What happens next will be closely watched. Infantino has bought himself some time with the apology, but the questions about his leadership have not gone away. African football will be watching to see whether the Council's push for more than words turns into real accountability.
