Infantino remains silent about his regret over the proposal to sell a share of the World Cup

Gianni Infantino, President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), remained silent about whether he regretted his abandoned proposal to sell a stake in the World Cup, while attending the opening match of the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in the Polish city of Katowice on Saturday.

The tournament is the first competition organized by the International Federation since the Swiss official canceled his plan, which was valuing the commercial rights for the World Cup and the rest of the FIFA tournaments at about $20 billion.

The proposal was abandoned in late July, after strong reactions and threats of boycott from continental federations, including the European Football Association (UEFA), in addition to major parties in the game.

Infantino said during the opening match between host Poland and Argentina: “I am very happy to be here in beautiful Poland, and in Katowice, in a wonderful atmosphere for the U-20 Women’s World Cup. "It's wonderful."

He added: “This is what we do.” “It is about providing opportunities and giving national teams, players and talents from all over the world the opportunity to participate, and increasing the number of participants.”

“Not today...not here.”

Infantino did not answer questions about whether he felt remorse about what happened during the past six weeks.

He said: “You know there is a lot that can be said, and there will be the right place and the right time to talk about it.”

He added: “Not today, and not here.” Today we are here to enjoy football.”

On Thursday, FIFA accused UEFA of waging a “smear campaign,” considering that the European Union’s opposition to the sale plan was motivated by the desire to maintain the dominance of European football.

Infantino attended the match in Katowice, accompanied by a number of senior FIFA officials, including Secretary General Matthias Grafström and Chairman of the Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina.

On the other hand, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin did not attend the match, after he had previously ruled out running in the FIFA presidential elections against Infantino.

Infantino gave a new indication of the possibility of running in the elections for the presidency of the International Federation scheduled for next March, based on the fact that he is best able to continue distributing football revenues more widely to less wealthy countries.

He said: “We continue to work at FIFA in order to give every part of the world an opportunity, make room for them, give them dignity, and find ways and means that help them develop, participate and celebrate football.”

Manchester City continued its series of victories in the English Premier League with a difficult victory over its guest Coventry City, 1-0, in the third round of the competition, today, Saturday.

Erling Haaland scored the only goal in the 26th minute of the match held at Etihad Stadium.

Thus, City achieved its third victory in a row, raising its score to 9 points, and temporarily taking the lead, raising the team’s morale before an away match against Porto, next Tuesday, in the Champions League.

Manchester Sealy will then be a guest on its neighbor Manchester United in the city derby, next Sunday, at Old Trafford.

As for Coventry City, led by its coach, Frank Lampard, it suffered its third loss in a row, leaving it without a score in 19th and penultimate place, and will play in the next round at home against Brighton.

In another confrontation, Tottenham Hotspur returned from the City Ground Stadium with a frustrating scoreless draw with its host, Nottingham Forest, so that Spurs earned their first point after two consecutive defeats at the beginning of the season, while Forest earned their second point.

Tottenham controlled the course of the match and its players missed many opportunities, especially Egyptian striker Omar Marmoush, who started the match before giving his place to Dominic Solanke in the last minutes of the match.

The Elversberg team, newly promoted to the German Football League this season, continued its surprises, achieving its second victory on Saturday in the second round at the expense of its host, Borussia Mönchengladbach, with a score of 4/3.

Elversberg was not content with the valuable victory it achieved in the first round over Bayer Leverkusen 3/2, achieving a new exciting victory over Mönchengladbach.

Hugo Poulin scored the goal that gave Borussia Mönchengladbach the lead, the host and the crowd, in the 11th minute, then David Mokwa equalized in the 29th minute for the visitors.

Hugo Poulin returned to score a second goal for Mönchengladbach in the 44th minute, while Elversberg coach Vincent Wagner received a red card at the end of the first half for dissent.

Joe Scally succeeded in adding the third goal for Borussia in the 56th minute, then Maurice Krattenmacher reduced the gap again in the 66th minute for Elversberg, before Felix Keidel scored the equalizer in the 80th minute.

The visiting team was not satisfied with the valuable point, but Krattenmacher scored the fatal winning goal in the second minute of stoppage time, giving Elversberg victory away from its stadium 4/3.

Elversberg raised its score to 6 points in third place on goal difference, ahead of leaders Freiburg and runner-up Borussia Dortmund, while Borussia Mönchengladbach is at the bottom of the standings with no points.

In another confrontation, Borussia Dortmund overcame a two-goal deficit against its host Hoffenheim to win 3-2 on Saturday, in the second round of the German Football League.

The match, which was held at the Versol Rhein-Neckar Arena, witnessed many fluctuations, as the hosts first took the lead with a goal at the end of the first half, in the 45th minute, through Leon Avdolaho, then Tim Limperle added the second goal in the 54th minute.

Dortmund's uprising began in the 61st minute, when Serho Geraci scored the goal to reduce the deficit for the visitors, and 5 minutes later Fabio Silva equalized for Dortmund, and Hoffenheim defender Alban Hadari added the third goal in his team's goal by mistake in the 86th minute.

This victory raised Dortmund's score to 6 points, in second place on goal difference behind Freiburg, while Hoffenheim remains without points in fifteenth place.