Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt has asked Gianni Infantino to disclose every document connected to his discontinued World Cup commercial proposal and the decision to overturn USA forward Folarin Balogun’s suspension during last summer’s competition.
Hewitt and several other FIFA Council members are seeking an independent investigation into both the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) sale and the handling of the Balogun case. Their demands have now been formally presented in a letter to the FIFA president and his deputy, Mattias Grafström.
The letter was delivered before the FIFA Council meeting scheduled for 15 October in Zurich. It will be the first time Infantino has met the council’s other 36 members since details of the FFE proposal became public in July.
Last month, several council members tried to arrange an extraordinary general meeting to question Infantino about the FFE proposal and the Balogun incident. The council consists of 28 delegates from the six confederations, eight vice-presidents and Infantino.
The group failed to secure the 19 votes needed to convene the meeting, and Hewitt’s requests for full disclosure and an independent inquiry are also expected to face significant opposition.
Infantino has had no direct contact with the FIFA Council since announcing the withdrawal of the FFE proposal in early August. Meanwhile, he has been seeking support ahead of next year’s presidential election through visits to the Caribbean, South America, Morocco and Qatar.
Balogun’s suspension was cancelled after Donald Trump spoke with Infantino, even though the player had received a straight red card for serious foul play during the USA’s last-32 World Cup victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ruling enabled him to appear against Belgium in the round of 16, where the USA suffered a 4-1 defeat.
FIFA maintains that the proper procedure was followed and that its ethics committee reached the decision independently. However, no written account of the hearing has been released, while a request for clarification from the Royal Belgian FA received no response.
Hewitt’s letter is also believed to address wider concerns about governance within FIFA, particularly the organisation’s management of the crisis created by the FFE dispute during the summer.
The FA’s decision to challenge Infantino carries potential consequences because the UK is currently the only bidder to stage the 2035 Women’s World Cup. The hosts of the 2031 and 2035 tournaments are expected to be selected at an extraordinary FIFA congress on 23 November.
The nomination period for candidates in March’s presidential election closes five days before that congress. Infantino is the only person to have publicly confirmed plans to run, while UEFA and Concacaf, representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, are attempting to identify a rival candidate.
Before the World Cup, the FA submitted a letter supporting Infantino’s bid for a fourth presidential term. It has since withdrawn that endorsement, joining several other European associations in doing so.
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