FIFA to give council members access to documents on World Cup stake sale — BBC Sport
FIFA will give members of its council the opportunity to review some of the documents related to the failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors. The documents will be available for viewing only in person at the organization’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, BBC Sport reports.
FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström wrote to members of the organization’s main decision-making body that access would be granted under specified conditions. Council members were given two weeks to indicate whether they wanted to review the materials. It is currently unknown which documents will be available. According to Grafström, this procedure is intended to ensure compliance with confidentiality obligations.
UEFA demand
Last month, UEFA gave FIFA until November 2 to disclose details of the controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal and answer questions about governance and decision-making. Grafström’s letter arrived a few hours before the deadline expired.
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Earlier, FIFA President Gianni Infantino apologized for abandoning the plan at a council meeting but did not provide a full explanation of how the proposal had been developed. He asked for questions to be submitted in writing.
Questions for FIFA
According to BBC Sport, FIFA considered the two-week deadline unrealistic for answering more than 100 questions from UEFA. The organization cited preparations for a new youth World Cup in Azerbaijan and an extraordinary congress at the end of the month.
Sources also told BBC Sport that FIFA’s ability to answer some of the questions is limited by a legal procedure initiated by UEFA in the United States, demanding the disclosure of evidence and documents. UEFA warned that it could file a criminal complaint in Switzerland. The European football body stated that FIFA had not answered a number of fundamental questions, including those concerning the decision-making mechanism and the involvement of the FIFA Council.
