Debbie Hewitt, chair of the Football Association, has urged FIFA president Gianni Infantino to make public all documents connected to the governing body’s disputed plan to sell off a stake in the commercial rights of the World Cup.
Hewitt, who also serves as a FIFA vice-president, issued the demand in a letter addressed to Infantino and FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom.
She further requested that the FIFA Council receive a written explanation for the choice to suspend the one-match ban given to United States forward Folarin Balogun at the World Cup.
Hewitt is seeking the release of those documents ahead of the next FIFA Council meeting, which is set for 15 October.
The letter voices worries about governance and about what the FA chair characterized as a deterioration of culture inside FIFA.
Infantino has come under increasing scrutiny regarding the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal.
The proposal would have established a new company to handle the commercial and ticketing rights of FIFA competitions, the World Cup among them.
As part of the plan, a 21% share in the new company was to be sold to a private investment firm.
The proposal was ultimately dropped after national football associations voiced widespread opposition.
Hewitt has asked for an independent review examining how the FFE proposal came about, who took part, and how the private investment opportunity was put out to tender.
The controversy has also fuelled an increasingly public clash between FIFA and UEFA.
UEFA has started preparing legal action in three US courts regarding the FFE proposal and has called for the release of documents tied to the plan.
FIFA has dismissed the criticism, accusing UEFA of running a “smear campaign” against Infantino and the organization’s leadership.
Infantino, aged 56, is aiming for a fourth term as FIFA president in March. Those who might challenge him have until 18 November to put forward a different candidate.
The Football Association had previously voiced concerns about how Balogun’s suspension was handled during the World Cup.
During his country’s 2-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the last 32, the United States forward was sent off with a straight red card for a foul on defender Tarik Muharemovic.
That red card brought an automatic one-match ban, which meant Balogun would ordinarily have been expected to sit out the last-16 clash with Belgium.
FIFA, however, announced that the suspension would be deferred for a year, clearing the striker to play in the match.
FIFA pointed to a rule permitting disciplinary sanctions to be suspended but offered no detailed reasoning for the decision.
The FA had asked for documents concerning the decision and voiced worries about possible political interference.
United States President Donald Trump later confirmed he had been in contact with Infantino and requested a review of Balogun’s ban.
The episode deepened the FA’s concerns about FIFA’s decision-making and governance.
The FFE proposal came on the heels of the Balogun controversy, putting further strain on relations between FIFA and several national associations.
UEFA, Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation then accused FIFA and Infantino of eroding trust in the organization.
A number of national associations, among them England, Wales, and Scotland, have retracted earlier letters backing Infantino’s re-election.
Even so, Infantino still enjoys considerable support elsewhere in world football, as the confederations for Africa, South America, and Oceania have restated their backing.
Once the FFE proposal was dropped, Infantino met with the FIFA management board in Rabat, Morocco.
Yet the FIFA Council has still not been given a full account of the controversial plan.
That is likely to change at the next council meeting on 15 October, when Hewitt and the other 35 members of FIFA’s governing council will put questions to Infantino.
