FA chair Hewitt demands Infantino release records of failed World Cup plan

The Football Association’s chair, Debbie Hewitt, has written to Gianni Infantino demanding that Fifa releases all documents relating to his abandoned World Cup sell-off plan and the decision to lift the USA striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension during last summer’s tournament.

The Guardian revealed last month that Hewitt and other members of the Fifa council were lobbying for an independent review of the proposed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) sell-off and the Balogun controversy. Their requests have been formalised in a letter sent to the Fifa president and his deputy, Mattias Grafström.

The letter, first reported by the Times, has been sent in advance of the Fifa council meeting in Zurich on 15 October. That is due to be the first time since the FFE plan emerged in July that Infantino will meet the other 36 members of the group that acts as Fifa’s board of directors.

A number of members of the council, which comprises 28 representatives of the six confederations, eight vice-presidents and Infantino, attempted last month to call an extraordinary general meeting to hold Infantino to account over FFE and Balogun.

The rebels were unable to get the 19 votes required to trigger such a meeting, however, and Hewitt’s call for the release of documents and an independent review is also likely to fail.

Infantino has not had any contact with the Fifa council since writing to it to withdraw FFE at the start of August and has been lobbying for support before next year’s presidential election, making visits to the Caribbean, South America, Morocco and Qatar.

Balogun’s ban was lifted after a phone call from Donald Trump to Infantino despite the player being shown a straight red card for serious foul play in the USA’s World Cup last-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. That allowed him to play against Belgium in the last 16, a match the USA lost 4-1.

Fifa has said it followed due process, with the decision taken independently by its ethics committee, but has yet to publish a written report on the hearing. A request from the Royal Belgian FA for an explanation went unanswered.

Hewitt’s letter is understood to make reference to other governance issues at Fifa, particularly its response to the crisis caused by the FFE controversy this summer.

The FA’s willingness to take the lead in holding Infantino to task comes with some risk because the UK is the currently sole bidder for the 2035 Women’s World Cup. A decision on the hosts of that tournament and the 2031 edition is due to be made at an extraordinary Fifa congress on 23 November.

The deadline for candidates to stand in March’s presidential election is five days earlier. Infantino is the only candidate to publicly reveal his intention to stand, with Uefa and Concacaf – the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation – working to find someone to stand against him.

The FA sent a letter of endorsement for Infantino’s fourth term as president before the World Cup but, along with several other European countries, has since withdrawn its backing.