FIFA offers council access to World Cup sell-off documents in Zurich

FIFA has told members of its council they will be able to inspect documents concerning the abandoned proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, BBC Sport reported on November 2. Access will be limited to in-person visits to the governing body's headquarters in Zurich and subject to confidentiality restrictions.

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Secretary general Mattias Grafstrom set out the arrangements in a letter seen by BBC Sport. Council members have been asked to register within two weeks to examine the material. However, it remains unclear which documents FIFA will provide. The offer arrived hours before a November 2 deadline set by UEFA for the release of information about the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal.

UEFA's demand followed a council meeting at which FIFA president Gianni Infantino apologised for the abandoned plan. According to the BBC report, he did not provide a full explanation of how it had been devised and requested that questions be submitted in writing. UEFA subsequently sent eight pages of questions, arguing that withdrawing the proposal and acknowledging mistakes did not explain how decisions had been taken or why the council had not been involved at the appropriate stage.

Grafstrom said FIFA was preparing a response that would be shared with every council member, but argued that UEFA had submitted substantially more questions than the administration could reasonably have expected. BBC Sport reported that FIFA considered the two-week timetable for answering more than 100 questions impractical, citing work on a new youth World Cup in Azerbaijan and preparations for an extraordinary congress later in November.

The dispute also involves legal proceedings. UEFA began action in the United States in October seeking evidence and documents, and warned that it could file a criminal complaint in Switzerland. Sources cited by BBC Sport said those proceedings limited FIFA's ability to address some questions. UEFA had not specified what it would do if the deadline was missed.

Grafstrom also maintained that the investment proposal could only have advanced with approval from both the council and a majority of member associations. He said FIFA faced no penalty for withdrawing. UEFA had been approached for comment, the BBC reported; FIFA's detailed response to its questions was still being prepared.