Gianni Infantino gave an apology to the toughest critics who want to oust him as FIFA president but no new details or documents on issues that most concern them at a showdown meeting of the ruling council of soccer’s governing body on Thursday.

Infantino provided no documents about the $4.2 billion World Cup sell-off plan he launched and quickly dropped in July.

Nor did he give details to explain the Folarin Balogun red-card case at the World Cup or how U.S. President Donald Trump intervened to help the national team forward.

FIFA will, however, review whether to continue awarding the peace prize that was created to give to Trump last December.

Infantino was pressed by European soccer officials for written evidence about his secretive private equity plan for the World Cup with investor Joshua Kushner, which provoked a global rift and the biggest crisis of his near 11-year presidency.

He frustrated them further by asking for written questions, FIFA vice president Debbie Hewitt said after the 3 1/2-hour meeting that is the last before a Nov. 18 deadline to field an election candidate to challenge him.

“The man has to answer those questions. If he doesn’t answer those questions, no, he is not fit to be the FIFA president,” said Hewitt, who leads the English Football Association.

Infantino did not meet with media at FIFA headquarters Thursday.

Euro officials seek answers and allies to pressure InfantinoEuropean soccer’s ruling body UEFA is leading attempts to remove Infantino before or at the FIFA presidential election in March and heard little to change that view Thursday.

“No satisfactory answers were provided,” said German soccer leader Bernd Neuendorf, one of eight UEFA delegates in the 37-member FIFA Council that Infantino chairs.

The council is the main decision-making body at FIFA with a global spread of officials – most are presidents of their national federation, like Cindy Parlow Cone of the U.S. – who are elected by their continental soccer bodies for four-year terms.

FIFA pays each an annual stipend of $250,000, with $300,000 for the continental presidents.

Infantino infuriated soccer leaders in Europe, North America and Asia by working for months in secret on the Kushner plan. It deepened a long-standing perception in UEFA that the FIFA boss plans his biggest projects without consulting them.

“We need a person of integrity, someone who can be expected to restore the reputation of the association, which has undoubtedly been lost,” Neuendorf told reporters.

Infantino did start the meeting by apologizing to his Council colleagues for blindsiding them and creating a furor over his private investor plan with Kushner that was revealed in media reports nine days after the World Cup final in July.

“He said that with some contrition,” Hewitt said.

Support for Infantino comes from AfricaFor most of the last 50 years, FIFA voters from Africa – which now counts 54 of the 211 member federations – have been key to gaining and staying in power.

“The key point for us,” said FIFA Council member Ahmed Yahya, the head of Mauritania’s soccer federation, “is that we see Gianni as the right person to continue leading football.” Infantino’s offer to add $15 million in FIFA funding to each of the 211 members over the next four years made progress Thursday.

“I’ve said that President Gianni Infantino is taking football forward worldwide,” Yahya said. “I come from the African continent and know what I’m talking about.

The FIFA presidential election meeting is on March 18 in Rabat, Morocco – a political ally of Infantino, whose soccer leader Fouzi Lekjaa is an influential council member and which will co-host the 2030 World Cup.

Next FIFA Council in Qatar which is supporting InfantinoThe FIFA Council should next meet on Dec. 16 in Doha, Qatar – the 2022 World Cup host that still is loyal to Infantino.

Another ally is Azerbaijan – whose most senior soccer official Elkhan Mammadov is an aide in Infantino’s inner circle – which will host a global boys’ tournament for under-15 teams later this month. That event shapes to be a lobbying opportunity for his campaign.

FIFA also will host an online extra congress on Nov. 23 – five days after the candidate deadline – to confirm hosts for the Women’s World Cup in 2031 and 2035. The only bids are a U.S.-Mexico-Costa Rica-Jamaica plan for 2031 and the four British federations for 2035.

UEFA pursues legal action against FIFA, Infantino and Kushner in the U.S.UEFA also has asked courts in the United States for the right to get evidence for a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland. The court filings allege possible mismanagement of FIFA finances in the value he put on the intended subsidiary running tournament commercial rights.

It was to be at least 20% owned by investors led by Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

FIFA lawyers’ filings in response to stall or stop the evidence requests said they were a “smear campaign” by UEFA.

In only their second season, the Golden State Valkyries are playing in their first WNBA Finals. They open a best-of-seven series Saturday against the Atlanta Dream at Chase Center in San Francisco. The No. 2 seed Valkyries swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals, while No. 4 seed Dream swept the New York Liberty to reach the Finals for the first time since 2013.

Game 1 tips off at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and can be watched on NBC and Peacock and heard on 95.7 FM. If you don’t have a ticket but want to watch the game with other fans, check out this list of Valkyries-friendly establishments.

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Check the Valkyries Bar Network for places to watch across the Bay Area, some of which advertise discounts during games or to fans in Valkyries attire.

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This article originally published at How and when to watch WNBA Finals. Share your thoughts on Game 1 of Valkyries-Dream.

South African rugby player Hyron Andrews of Johannesburg-based side the Lions was found dead at a hotel in France on Friday, on the eve of his team’s Champions Cup match against La Rochelle, local authorities told AFP.

A source close to the investigation said the 31-year-old lock was found in cardiac arrest in a shower cubicle that was locked from the inside.

The public prosecutor in La Rochelle, western France, confirmed that an investigation had been opened to determine the cause of death, which occurred on the island of Ile de Ré, and said that an accidental death was currently the leading line of inquiry.

An autopsy is due to be carried out, the source close to the investigation said.

“This devastating news has sent shockwaves through the international rugby community,” the Lions said in a statement.

“The former Sharks and Sale Sharks lock forward was a valued member of the Lions family, and his loss will be felt profoundly by his teammates, coaches, supporters and all who had the privilege of knowing him.”

Andrews had only returned to his native South Africa earlier this year after a two-year spell with English Prem side Sale Sharks. He began his career with the Sharks franchise in Durban and represented his country at Under-20 level.

“We are heartbroken by the passing of Hyron. He was not only a gifted rugby player, but also a cherished member of our Lions family having recently joined us this season,” added Lions chief executive Rudolf Straeuli.

“On behalf of … everyone at the Lions, I extend our deepest sympathies to (his wife) Maighlin, their young sons Hendrix and Emerson and the entire Andrews family. We stand with them in their sorrow and will remember Hyron with great affection and respect.”

Playing in ‘honour of Hyron’

The Lions said Saturday’s match against La Rochelle would go ahead as planned “in honour of Hyron”. 

It is the first time the Lions have played in the Champions Cup, which brings together the best European and South African clubs. A moment’s silence will be held ahead of all Champions Cup and second-tier Challenge Cup matches this weekend in memory of Andrews.

Read moreParis court convicts two for 2022 murder of Argentine rugby star Aramburu

“Hyron was a respected member of the rugby community whose contribution to the game and impact on those around him will be remembered with great fondness,” said Mark Alexander, president of the South African Rugby Union.

“His untimely passing is a devastating loss, and we share in the grief of all who knew and loved him.

“The thoughts and prayers of the entire South African rugby family are with Maighlin and all those mourning his loss.”

The tragedy comes exactly 10 years to the day since the sudden death of former Munster coach Anthony Foley, who died in his sleep aged 42 due to a heart rhythm disorder just hours before his team were due to play against Racing 92 in Paris in the same competition.

La Rochelle coach Ronan O’Gara was a member of the Racing staff when Foley, a former Ireland international team-mate, passed away in October 2016.

Bordeaux-Begles are set to begin their bid for a record-equalling third straight Champions Cup crown later on Friday when they visit Gloucester in the tournament opener.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

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Moses Itauma needed time to come to terms with the first defeat of his career against Filip Hrgovic but is now ready to reap the benefits of that gripping night in August.

Itauma looked destined to become the second youngest heavyweight champion of all time behind Mike Tyson when he unloaded on Hrgovic at will in the first half of their IBF title showdown at The O2 Arena.

The 21-year-old had emptied the tank too early, however, and slowly exhaustion took over to enable his durable Croatian foe to force a ninth-round stoppage.

Now lined up for a January comeback against an established name, Itauma stands by his decision to aim for “greatness” by attempting to knock Hrgovic out.

“For a long time I couldn’t accept the fact that it happened because I was winning the fight so comfortably,” said Itauma, speaking publicly about the fight for the first time at the launch of Club Eight 3 gym in Chatham.

“I was so far ahead on the scorecards and then all of a sudden your body just starts shutting itself down.

“I’ve always been able to do things that other people couldn’t do. When you talk about knocking out Dillian Whyte in the first round, people couldn’t do that but I did it. Jermaine Franklin’s never looked like he’s ever been in any trouble and I knocked him out.

“So when certain opportunities arose in that Hrgovic fight, I thought this is the moment for me to do something that other people couldn’t do.

“I was at an arm’s length away from so much greatness and that was the experience that I needed to have.”

Promoter Frank Warren wants Itauma fully involved in a busy 2027 for the heavyweight division that will see the likes of Daniel Dubois, the winner of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua and Hrgovic vie for supremacy.

Itauma will makes some adjustments as a result of his first loss in 15 fights but having dominated on the judges’ scorecards, the core of who he is in the ring will remain the same.

“The identity of being a boxer is still deeply rooted in me,” Itauma said. “Just because I lost doesn’t mean that’s going to change. I’ll be back.

“I’m always very honest about what’s happened. There’s not much that’s going to change. It’s the third round I’ve ever lost in my boxing career, it just happened to be for the heavyweight championship of the world at 21 years of age.

“All the way until a minute before the fight stopped I didn’t have a worry. It was only maybe the last couple of minutes of round nine that things just started go.

“I started moving in slow motion and he was in fast motion. And then it was like I just couldn’t do anything.

“The exhaustion had obviously kicked in. But at no point in that fight was I like, ‘oh, I’m messing up’. I still tried.

“Nine times out of 10, when people come up to me on the streets, they’re like, ‘it was a good fight’. And although I didn’t get the decision, boxing’s entertainment and I entertained. Congratulations to Filip Hrgovic.”