Debbie Hewitt, the Football Association chair and a FIFA vice-president, has told Gianni Infantino to release all documents connected to his abandoned plan to sell a stake in the commercial operations of the World Cup to private investors.
In a letter to the FIFA president, Hewitt said the material should be made available before the next FIFA Council meeting on 15 October. She has also sought an independent review into the origins of the proposal, the people behind its development and the process used to put the private investment out to tender.
The request centres on the FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE, a proposal that would have created a new company to manage commercial and ticketing rights for all FIFA competitions, including World Cups. Under the plan, a private investment company would have bought 21% of the business.
The proposal was later scrapped after widespread opposition from national associations. It had been presented as Infantino’s leading commercial initiative, yet it became a wider test of confidence in FIFA’s governance and the president’s leadership.
Hewitt sits on the FIFA Council as well as serving as a FIFA vice-president. Her intervention seeks answers over questions that remain unresolved, including who conceived the FFE plan, how it was developed within FIFA and which private investment company was approached for the proposed stake.
FIFA’s management board has said there will be a review. Its statement did not identify who would conduct the investigation, and FIFA has not confirmed the scope of that work.
UEFA has taken a more confrontational position. Last month, the European football body began preparing criminal legal proceedings against Infantino at three US courts over the FFE plan. UEFA has also made legal applications in the US court system seeking disclosure of documents related to the proposal.
Before the scheme was shelved, UEFA had threatened to boycott all FIFA competitions. It has since said it has 'lost confidence' in Infantino.
Infantino apologised in August for the process surrounding the private investor plan. The information available does not set out whether that apology included any specific accountability measures or changes to FIFA’s structures.
Hewitt’s letter also asks for documents relating to FIFA’s decision to suspend a ban imposed on United States striker Folarin Balogun during the World Cup. That decision followed a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Infantino. The contents and purpose of their communications have not been disclosed.
The disputes have sharpened the political stakes before FIFA’s presidential election, scheduled for 18 March 2027 in Rabat. Opponents have until 18 November to find and submit an alternative candidate.
UEFA has committed to identifying a credible candidate to challenge Infantino at the FIFA Congress in March. No potential challenger has been identified in the available information.
There has also been a visible loss of support among figures previously aligned with the FIFA president. Makis Gagatsis, president of the Greek Football Association, withdrew his backing for Infantino’s re-election bid on Tuesday.
Sources nevertheless suggest Infantino retains enough support to secure his position despite the growing opposition. The coming Council meeting, the promised review and UEFA’s court applications will determine how much further the dispute over the FFE plan shapes the contest before the March vote.
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