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FA Chair Demands FIFA Release World Cup Sell-Off Documents
Confirmed
In Short: Debbie Hewitt, chair of the Football Association and FIFA vice-president, has called on FIFA president Gianni Infantino to release all documents related to the controversial plan to sell a stake in the World Cup's commercial rights.
Debbie Hewitt, chair of the Football Association and FIFA vice-president, has written to FIFA president Gianni Infantino demanding the release of all documents related to the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal. The proposal aimed to create a new company to manage commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, with a stake offered to private investors.
Hewitt's letter, sent to Infantino and FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom, also calls for a written explanation for the decision to suspend the one-match ban handed to United States forward Folarin Balogun during the World Cup. The FA chair wants the documents made available before the next FIFA Council meeting on October 15.
Infantino's FFE proposal faced global backlash, leading to UEFA's threat to boycott FIFA competitions until it was shelved. UEFA has begun preparing legal proceedings in three US courts over the FFE proposal and has demanded the release of documents related to the plan.
UEFA has lost confidence in Infantino and is preparing to identify a credible candidate to run against him in the FIFA Congress in March. UEFA's legal applications in the US court system seek disclosure of documents related to the private investor plan.
Hewitt's letter raises concerns about governance and a breakdown in culture within FIFA. She calls for an independent review of how the FFE was conceived, who was involved, and how the proposed private investment was put to tender.
What's confirmed
- Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt has called on FIFA president Gianni Infantino to release all documents relating to the governing body’s controversial plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights of the World Cup.
- She also called for the FIFA Council to be given a written explanation for the decision to suspend the one-match ban handed to United States forward Folarin Balogun during the World Cup.
- UEFA has begun preparing legal proceedings in three US courts over the FFE proposal and has demanded the release of documents relating to the plan.
What's still developing
- The controversy has also led to an increasingly public dispute between FIFA and UEFA.
- Infantino apologised for the process in regard to the private investor plan in August, and a statement from FIFA’s management board pledged there would be a review but has not at any stage confirmed who is undertaking that investigation.
- Fifa then said the automatic one-match ban would be suspended for a year.
- Then the FFE proposal, revealed through the media just days after the World Cup final, fractured the game.
- Fifa and Infantino were accused of breaking trust "through deception" in an open letter issued by Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation last month.
- After FFE was cancelled, Infantino called a meeting of the Fifa management board in Rabat, Morocco.
- Fifa hit back and accused Uefa of a "smear campaign against it and its leadership" in a challenge to the litigation.
- FIFA said on Wednesday that a review of the abandoned FFE proposal would be presented to the Council, following criticism over the lack of transparency surrounding the scheme.