In the corridors of European football, UEFA has set FIFA a firm deadline: by 2 November, world football’s governing body must release key documents and give full answers on how major decisions have been made under Gianni Infantino’s presidency.
Key takeaways
- UEFA has submitted 42 questions across eight pages and wants individual explanations for any material FIFA declines to disclose.
- Infantino apologised at Thursday’s FIFA Council meeting for the abandoned plan to sell World Cup rights, but did not set out how the proposal was developed.
- The questions range from the FIFA Forward Enterprise project to an unreported additional payment to Infantino and his accommodation expenses.
- UEFA says future governance changes cannot replace scrutiny of decisions already taken.
- Debbie Hewitt, the English FA chair and FIFA vice-president, said a president who will not answer such questions is not fit to hold the office.
A demand for records, not assurances
UEFA’s intervention follows a FIFA Council meeting last week at which concerns were raised directly with Infantino. Although the FIFA president acknowledged the failure of the proposed World Cup rights sale, UEFA believes the apology did not answer the central issue: who shaped the plan and why the Council was not involved at the appropriate point.
The European body said FIFA had left “a number of fundamental matters” unresolved. It said other questions had received no reply and that requested information and paperwork had not been provided.
Its letter insists that FIFA cannot simply defer the matter until another Council meeting. “Possible governance reforms” may be announced later, UEFA argues, but they cannot stand in place of accountability for actions that have already occurred.
FIFA has also been told that any refusal to release a document or provide information must be dealt with case by case, with a clear and specific justification for withholding it.
The questions facing FIFA
The eight-page submission addresses the FIFA Forward Enterprise programme, known as FFE, including private investment connected to a project that would have privatised the World Cup. It also asks about the FIFA Peace Prize awarded to Donald Trump.
Among the 42 points are questions over an extra payment to Infantino that was not included in FIFA’s financial report. UEFA also seeks clarification on accommodation costs in Qatar and the United States, as well as expenses related to renting property in Trump Tower.
The letter further raises concern about the impartiality of the president of FIFA’s Electoral Commission. It includes the disputed suspended punishment involving United States forward Folarin Balogun at the 2026 World Cup, despite his dismissal in the preceding match.
UEFA has not said what action it could take should FIFA miss the 2 November deadline. But Hewitt, who serves both as chair of the Football Association and as a FIFA vice-president, delivered a blunt assessment after the Council discussions: “If he does not answer those questions, he is not fit to be FIFA president.”
