{"text":[[{"start":9.44,"text":"Fifa president Gianni Infantino has admitted “mistakes” in his bid to create a $20bn commercial entity and sell shares to investors, as he attempted to draw a line under a saga that has undermined world football’s governing body and led to calls for him to resign."}],[{"start":25.8,"text":"In a letter to Fifa council members drawn up following an emergency meeting on Wednesday in Morocco, one of the co-hosts of the next Fifa World Cup, Infantino admitted that the controversial scheme to bring in private investment “should have been handled differently”."}],[{"start":40.64,"text":"“We sincerely apologise for these errors and commit to them not happening again. With this in mind, we will conduct a necessary review,” said the letter, signed by Infantino and Mattias Grafström, Fifa secretary-general, and seen by the FT."}],[{"start":56.16,"text":"“We acknowledge mistakes were made in the process of the proposed establishment of Fifa Forward Enterprise,” it added, referring to the divisive scheme that would have distributed billions of dollars to Fifa’s members, but which sparked anger across the global game."}],[{"start":70.84,"text":"The Financial Times last week revealed Infantino’s plan to set up a commercial company and raise more than $4bn by selling a 20 per cent stake in the venture. A fund run by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is Donald Trump’s son-in-law, had been lined up as lead investor."}],[{"start":88.48,"text":"But Infantino’s proposal was met with immediate resistance, with confederations including the European governing body Uefa, fans groups and politicians coming out against the plan, which also faced opposition from inside Fifa."}],[{"start":102.4,"text":"Kevin Lamour, Fifa chief operating officer, said he and his colleagues had been “deceived”, while Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs banker, resigned from his role as an adviser to Infantino over the affair."}],[{"start":115.48,"text":"Infantino backed away from the plan within days, but the pressure on him has continued to mount. Uefa said over the weekend that it had “lost confidence” in Fifa’s leadership and threatened legal action."}],[{"start":126.76,"text":"However, Fifa also sought to show the unity of its senior executives, following criticism by Grafström of a plan he had said was “difficult to comprehend and accept”."}],[{"start":136.88,"text":"“The outcomes of today’s meeting will strengthen Fifa’s governance, help restore confidence in the organisation and enable us to prepare for the major events and challenges ahead,” the letter said."}],[{"start":148.28,"text":"Infantino has previously said he intended to stand for re-election as Fifa president next year."}],[{"start":154.06,"text":"The Fifa council is the organisation’s main decision-making body, made up of 37 individual members, including Infantino."}],[{"start":167.32,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1785983477_4425.mp3"}