Uefa gives Infantino two-week deadline to release key documents

The Union of European Football Associations (Uefa) has issued a two-week deadline to the world governing body, FIFA, to release key documents and answer all inquiries pertaining to FIFA's governance and decision-making processes. This demand was brought forth at the recent FIFA Council meeting. FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed regret over the World Cup sell-off plan but did not provide a comprehensive explanation of how the proposal came to be.

Uefa's General Secretary, Theodore Theodoridis, highlighted that FIFA had not addressed several crucial questions and that the requested information and documentation remained absent. The letter included eight pages of questions covering various issues, such as the private investment of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), the Fifa Peace Prize, and the controversial suspension of USA striker Folarin Balogun during the World Cup.

Uefa emphasized that any refusal to disclose information or documents should be individually justified with clear explanations of the specific grounds for the refusal. They stressed that these questions cannot be postponed until the next FIFA Council meeting and that future governance reforms cannot substitute for scrutinizing decisions already taken and holding them accountable.

Infantino faced intense scrutiny regarding Balogun's case, where the striker avoided immediate suspension after being sent off at the World Cup. Balogun's suspension was later lifted by FIFA's disciplinary committee after US President Donald Trump requested a review of the decision. Uefa questioned the necessity of reviewing FIFA's disciplinary code, which aims to prevent a similar occurrence, and inquired about the communication between Trump and Infantino regarding the Balogun case.

Uefa also requested full written reasons for the Balogun decision, including the information and evidence presented to the disciplinary committee, the basis for selecting a single member of the committee, and the exceptional circumstances that justified this decision.