Fifa offers council members confidential access to abandoned World Cup rights plan

Fifa said on 2 November that its council members would be allowed to inspect documents concerning president Gianni Infantino’s abandoned World Cup commercial-rights proposal at its headquarters in Zurich, with access restricted by confidentiality requirements.¹²

Access restricted to headquarters

Secretary general Mattias Grafstrom informed council members of the arrangements in a letter. The material concerns Fifa Forward Enterprise, or FFE, the withdrawn proposal involving the sale of stakes linked to World Cup commercial rights to private investors. Members must visit headquarters to examine the documents rather than receive them for unrestricted review.¹²

The BBC and the Guardian reported that it was not clear precisely which records would be available. Uefa had requested access to all documents relating to FFE, according to the Guardian. The European governing body also demanded an individual explanation of the grounds for any refusal to meet its requests.¹²

ChosunBiz reported that Fifa unveiled the proposal in July, with plans for Fifa Forward Enterprise to hold the commercial rights to the World Cup and other major competitions. The outlet reported that Fifa abandoned the plan within days of announcing it. The proposed document inspection is not a public release.³

Questions about decision-making

Uefa’s deadline for answers was 2 November, according to the BBC. The Guardian reported that it passed without a direct response. Fifa said the volume of questions could not be dealt with within the two weeks allowed; Grafstrom said the demands went substantially beyond what the administration could reasonably have expected.¹²

The reports give different counts of the questions: the BBC described more than 100, while the Guardian reported more than 50. Grafstrom said a response was being prepared for circulation to council members. The BBC reported that Fifa cited other activities in explaining why it considered the deadline impractical.¹²

Uefa said withdrawing the proposal, acknowledging mistakes and promising reforms did not explain how the earlier decisions had been reached. It rejected postponing those questions until the next council meeting. “These questions require answers now,” Uefa said. According to the BBC, Infantino had apologised to the council without providing a full explanation.¹

Legal requests remain unresolved

Grafstrom said the FFE proposal would have required approval both from the council and from a majority of Fifa’s member associations. He also said Fifa would incur no penalty for withdrawing. Separately, the Guardian reported that Fifa denied wrongdoing by Infantino and accused Uefa of harassment and misinformation.¹²

Uefa has also sought documents through legal proceedings in the United States. According to the Guardian, preliminary decisions on applications to four US courts remained outstanding and could affect the information available for inspection. The BBC reported that Uefa had warned it could also submit a criminal complaint in Switzerland.¹²