Infantino calls for dialogue as Sorrell agency report raises campaign questions

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has pledged to listen to football’s governing bodies after the collapse of a proposal to bring private investment into FIFA’s commercial operations, while a reported engagement with Sir Martin Sorrell’s agency has brought scrutiny to how the organisation is responding to the crisis.Infantino’s comments come ahead of an October 15 FIFA Council meeting at which members are expected to consider an independent review of the governing body’s decision-making and consultation with its 211 national associations and six confederations. The proposed review follows opposition to FIFA Forward Enterprise, a plan to place commercial rights and other assets in a business that would have accepted outside investment.Writing on Instagram, Infantino said: “There must be a culture of dialogue, of listening to each other and respecting one another.”He described the proposed review as a way to hear from football’s stakeholders, although its scope and independence will be central to whether critics regard it as a meaningful response. The withdrawal of FIFA Forward Enterprise ended the immediate dispute over investment, but leagues and senior confederation officials have continued to press for changes to the structure that allowed the proposal to advance.According to the New York Post, FIFA has engaged Monks, an agency owned by Sorrell’s S4 Capital, through an arrangement authorised under FIFA accounts. The newspaper, citing three people familiar with the matter, characterised the work as part of an effort to protect Infantino’s position; that purpose has not been independently established, and the report does not disclose the contract’s value.The distinction between communications on FIFA’s behalf and campaigning for its president is especially sensitive with a presidential election due on March 18. The reported engagement does not, by itself, establish that FIFA resources have been used for election purposes, but it adds a question about oversight and transparency to the wider argument over presidential authority.That argument has grown beyond the abandoned investment proposal. The Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A have jointly called for stakeholders to have a meaningful role in decisions affecting the calendar, competitions and football’s commercial assets, as well as stronger safeguards between FIFA’s regulatory responsibilities and its business interests.Infantino now has an opportunity to put his commitment to dialogue into practice through the Council review. Its terms, the access given to affected stakeholders and the publication of its findings will show whether FIFA is prepared to change how decisions are made, while the reported Monks engagement is likely to invite separate questions about who authorised the work and what it covers.