FIFA to share documents related to World Cup sell-off plan

What the report says

FIFA is preparing to give its council members access to documents tied to Gianni Infantino’s abandoned plan to sell stakes in future World Cups to private investors, according to Al Jazeera’s report based on British media accounts. The material is said to concern a proposal called FIFA Forward Enterprise, which was reportedly shelved in July after drawing broad criticism.

The documents will not be posted publicly. Instead, the reports say the 37-member FIFA Council will have to arrange in-person appointments in Zurich over the next two weeks to review selected papers under strict confidentiality rules. Al Jazeera noted that the move came after UEFA pressed FIFA for answers about how the roughly $4.2bn plan was developed and who approved it.

The disclosure follows a tense council meeting in which Infantino apologized for the proposal but did not explain its origins, instead asking members to submit written questions. UEFA has been leading efforts to force greater accountability from FIFA and has also moved against Infantino ahead of the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March 18 in Rabat, Morocco, where he is seeking another term. The issue matters because it touches on governance, transparency and the management of football’s most valuable global tournament.