FIFA Council to Review Documents on Infantino’s Controversial Stake Sale Proposal
FIFA plans to share documents related to President Gianni Infantino’s unsuccessful proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup with members of its council, according to BBC Sport. The move comes after UEFA set a deadline to obtain clarifications about the contentious FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative, which Infantino recently abandoned.
Last month, UEFA required FIFA to provide details regarding the FFE proposal and address numerous inquiries about its governance and decision-making processes by November 2. This demand followed a council meeting where Infantino apologized for the scrapped sell-off initiative but did not give a comprehensive account of how the proposal came about, instead requesting that questions be submitted in writing.
Just before UEFA’s deadline passed, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom sent a message to the main decision-making body, indicating that the documents would be accessible under certain conditions and only in person at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich. Grafstrom stated that maintaining confidentiality was paramount, and council members must express their interest in reviewing the documents within the next two weeks.
The specific documents that will be made available remain unspecified. Sources informed BBC Sport that FIFA considers UEFA’s two-week response period to over 100 questions as impractical, especially as FIFA focuses on organizing a new youth World Cup in Azerbaijan and preparing for an extraordinary congress later this month.
Additionally, FIFA’s ability to respond to some queries is hampered by ongoing legal actions initiated by UEFA in the U.S. last month. UEFA is seeking the disclosure of evidence and documentation and has warned that it might pursue a criminal complaint in Switzerland.
In a recent letter, UEFA told FIFA that it had not satisfactorily addressed several fundamental questions. The correspondence included eight pages of questions concerning various topics, including the FFE, funding issues, and the controversial decisions related to awarding the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump and the suspended ban imposed on USA striker Folarin Balogun during the World Cup.
“The withdrawal of FFE, the acknowledgment of mistakes, and the announcement of ‘potential governance reforms’ do not clarify how decisions were made or why the FIFA Council was not sufficiently involved,” UEFA’s letter pointed out. It emphasized the need for immediate answers, stating that such inquiries cannot be postponed until the next FIFA Council meeting, nor should governance reforms be seen as a substitute for accountability regarding past decisions.
Although UEFA did not specify its intended course of action if FIFA fails to meet the deadline, the organization hopes to increase pressure on Infantino before November 18, the last date for candidates to announce their intention to run against him in the upcoming presidential election. UEFA has been requested for further comments on this issue.
