The newspaper published its correction on Tuesday, seven days after a sports-section investigation claimed the FIFA president had received an undeclared “second salary” from the governing body and bought a Miami property below market value through a company called Shadi LLC.

All three strands have now been withdrawn.

“There was no ‘second salary’,” The Times said in its correction, noting that the expenses and reimbursements Infantino receives do not count as remuneration under Swiss financial reporting rules and are not required to appear in FIFA’s annual report. The paper also accepted that Infantino did not buy the Miami property at an abnormally low price, and that neither he nor his family owns or controls Shadi LLC.

“We are happy to make these corrections and apologise to Mr Infantino and FIFA for the errors,” the newspaper wrote.

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FIFA’s ‘concerted effort’ framing

FIFA’s response went well beyond welcoming the correction. The governing body cast the retraction as evidence of a wider pattern.

“As FIFA stated in August, it is evident that there is a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine FIFA and its President,” the organisation said.

FIFA added that it “welcomes legitimate scrutiny” but that “scrutiny is not a license to amplify false allegations”, and urged media outlets to “act responsibly and carefully verify all sourcing”.

UEFA fallout in the background

A full retraction of a front-page investigation into a sitting FIFA president is rare on its own, and it lands at the most hostile moment in years between FIFA and its European confederation.

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FIFA announced plans on 28 July to launch FIFA Forward Enterprise, a subsidiary that would sell non-controlling stakes to outside investors in a vehicle valued at around $20bn, with up to $4.2bn to be raised. JP Morgan was named as financial adviser, with Thrive Capital, whose chief executive is Josh Kushner, expected to lead the proposed investor group.

UEFA responded with one of its sharpest statements in years, declaring the proposal “crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross” and that “the soul and governance of football are not assets to trade”. European nations were reported to be weighing a potential World Cup boycott if Infantino pushed ahead.

The newspaper’s apology confirms three specific errors in a single investigation. FIFA’s statement reaches further, pointing to August, when the governing body first described the criticism of its president as coordinated.

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