FIFA Amends Rules After Balogun Ban Reversal — SkimNews
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- FIFA is set to amend its rules to prohibit suspensions of automatic one-match bans after the controversial lifting of Folarin Balogun's World Cup red card suspension, a reversal Trump admitted he personally asked Infantino to review.
- Infantino chairs Thursday's council meeting — his first since the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal was revealed and dropped 11 weeks ago — amid calls for him to resign during what is shaping up as the worst crisis of his presidency.
- UEFA filed U.S. court applications seeking evidence discovery from FIFA and Joshua Kushner's investment firm for a possible criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland, with UEFA lawyers alleging the $4.2 billion FFE price could be a "fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit."
- Infantino is expected to counter a UEFA-backed $10 million payment proposal by offering each of FIFA's 211 member federations $15 million extra in the 2027-30 commercial cycle, on top of $10 million already promised.
- FIFA's departed chief operating officer Kevin Lamour called the intended FFE spinoff "the project of one person," highlighting concerns about Infantino's executive, one-man leadership style that underpins all four agenda items.
- The Norwegian football federation filed formal ethics complaints over the peace prize Infantino created and awarded to the U.S. president at last December's World Cup draw in Washington — an agenda item pushed by German FA president Bernd Neuendorf.
- Candidates have until Nov. 18 to enter the FIFA presidential election, which will be held four months later in Rabat, Morocco; Infantino was cruising toward a fourth and final term through 2031 before the FFE plan surfaced nine days after the July 19 World Cup final.
Why it matters: Infantino's $15M-per-member counter-offer (on top of $10M already promised) is a direct challenge to UEFA's push for governance reform and its Swiss criminal complaint pathway — the 211 federations that effectively own FIFA must now choose between continued cash windfalls under Infantino or backing a challenger before the Nov. 18 candidacy deadline.
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