Gianni Infantino apologised on Wednesday for the errors behind the most damaging crisis of his ten years in charge of Fifa. By Thursday night the shape of the fight had changed. The plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors is gone, and what remains is a straight contest over whether the man who conceived it in secret survives to a fourth term. On that question the votes have started to declare, and they are not declaring the way Europe needs them to.
What was conceded, and what was not
Infantino summoned members of Fifa's management board to the governing body's Africa office in Rabat on Wednesday, and a statement of support followed four hours after the meeting ended. He and the secretary general, Mattias Grafström, sent a signed letter to Fifa's vice-presidents, its council and all 211 member associations saying they "sincerely apologise" for their errors and "commit to them not happening again". Mistakes over the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal were acknowledged; it had not been the intention, Fifa said, for the council and the member associations to "feel excluded from the process". A review of how the proposal was handled was promised.
Two clauses in the same statement explain why none of that settled anything. Fifa maintained that although mistakes were made, "everything that was done was done in full compliance with the Fifa regulatory framework". It then warned that it "will no longer tolerate any attacks on its integrity, good governance and due process and will take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard its name and reputation". An apology for keeping a restructuring of the World Cup's commercial future from Fifa's own council does not usually arrive attached to a threat. The combination told Infantino's opponents what was being treated as the fault: the process, not the president.