Villar defends Infantino while acknowledging limited FFE knowledge

VILLAR'S PERSONAL POSITION

At the World Football Summit in Madrid on 15 September, former Spanish Football Federation president Ángel María Villar personally defended Gianni Infantino. EFE reported that Villar described Infantino as a great president and cited FIFA's distribution of development funding; both AS and EFE reported his praise for the organisation of the World Cup.

Villar also said the decision to lift United States forward Folarin Balogun's suspension belonged to the relevant competition committee rather than to Infantino personally. That is Villar's account of responsibility, not an independently established finding about the decision process.

Sources for this section12

RESERVATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE LIMITS

Villar said he did not like the idea of partially privatising FIFA, but characterised the withdrawn FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal as an alternative put forward for debate and said he believed it was not intended to pass. He also acknowledged that he did not know the proposal in depth and that many details were missing from his understanding.

His description of Infantino's intentions and of the body's decision-making remains his personal interpretation. The remarks do not independently establish what Infantino intended or how responsibility was allocated inside FIFA.

Sources for this section12

WHAT THIS DOES NOT ESTABLISH

Villar spoke as a former RFEF president and former FIFA and UEFA vice-president. The reports do not establish a current RFEF position, a Spanish voting commitment for 2027, an association decision or an allocation of the 2030 World Cup final.

Sources for this section12