FA Chair Tells Infantino to Publish World Cup Sale Papers
Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt has told FIFA president Gianni Infantino to release every document behind his plan to sell a stake in the World Cup.
Hewitt, who is also a FIFA vice-president, made the demand in a letter sent to Infantino and copied to FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom. She wants all papers shared before the next FIFA Council meeting on 15 October, the world governing body's top decision-making group. BBC
The letter accuses FIFA of failures in governance and a breakdown in culture. It centres on FIFA Forward Enterprise, a proposal for a new company to control commercial and ticketing rights for all FIFA competitions, including the World Cups. Under the plan, 21% of that company would have been sold to a private investment firm.
That proposal has now been scrapped after widespread opposition from national associations. Hewitt calls for an independent review of how it was conceived, by whom, and how the private investment was put out to tender.
Hewitt also wants a written explanation from the FIFA Council over the cancelled suspension of United States forward Folarin Balogun at the World Cup. Balogun was shown a straight red card, an instant dismissal for serious foul play, for a foul on Tarik Muharemovic during the 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the last 32. He would normally have missed the next game through a one-match ban.
Instead he was cleared to face Belgium in the last 16. FIFA said his automatic one-match ban would be suspended for a year, pointing to a rule that allows punishments to be paused. US President Donald Trump later confirmed he had called Infantino to ask for the ban to be reviewed. BBC
The fallout has turned political. The FA had sent a letter supporting Infantino's re-election before the Balogun incident. England, Wales and Scotland have now withdrawn those letters of support.
Last month UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation accused FIFA and Infantino of breaking trust "through deception" in an open letter. The confederations of Africa, South America and Oceania have reiterated their backing for Infantino, who will stand for a fourth term as president in March. Any rival has until 18 November to enter the race.
Earlier reporting put the scale of the scrapped commercial plan at up to $4.2 billion, according to Reuters, with federations offered an initial $20m payment if they accepted the terms. Those figures help explain why the row has cut so deep.
For fans, this matters because it is about who controls football's biggest prizes. The World Cup belongs to no single office. Hewitt is arguing that decisions about its future, and about discipline on the pitch, must be made in the open.
