UEFA has given FIFA two weeks to hand over answers and documents covering a string of controversies that have mounted during Gianni Infantino's presidency, according to RTE.ie. The demand was set out in a letter from UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis to FIFA general secretary Mattias Grafstrom on 19 October 2026, with a deadline of 2 November.
The letter speaks for European members of the FIFA Council who questioned Infantino directly in Zurich last week. Debbie Hewitt, chair of the English Football Association, confirmed after that meeting that Council members had been invited to submit their questions in writing. UEFA has now done exactly that, and it has done so in public.
What UEFA wants to know about the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan
The bulk of the letter concerns the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, the proposal to sell a 20% stake in a company that would run the World Cup and other competitions to private investors. Infantino withdrew the plan on 1 August after three continental confederations, UEFA among them, rejected it.
UEFA announced in August that it had lost confidence in Infantino over the scheme, and it has said it will find a credible alternative candidate to run against him in next year's FIFA presidential election. The deadline for candidates to be submitted is 18 November, which makes the 2 November deadline for FIFA's answers hard to ignore.
Theodoridis wrote that the withdrawal of the plan, Infantino's admission of mistakes and his pledges of possible governance reform 'do not answer how the relevant decisions were taken or why the FIFA Council was not involved at the appropriate stage'.
That is the heart of the matter. Football's governing body was run, in UEFA's telling, like a private firm deciding its own affairs, with the elected council of the world game left reading about it in the newspapers.
Joshua Kushner, the Peace Prize and a question of conflicts
The letter asks pointed questions about why exclusivity as lead investor in the FFE was granted to Joshua Kushner, the brother of the son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump. It asks how those family links to the winner of the FIFA Peace Prize, and the potential conflict of interest, were assessed and addressed.
UEFA also wants the origins of the FIFA Peace Prize itself explained, along with the valuation placed on FFE and the reasoning behind seeking private investment in the first place.
Ordinary supporters who pay for tickets and subscriptions will recognise the pattern here. Public institutions, even sporting ones, drift toward private gain unless someone forces the paperwork into the open. UEFA is doing the forcing, and it deserves credit for that whatever its own motivations.
The Balogun case and an undisclosed payment
The letter demands all documents related to the Folarin Balogun case, including any correspondence between the FIFA disciplinary committee, which suspended the player's one-match ban, and the FIFA administration.
UEFA also raised a recent Times report about a payment made to Infantino by FIFA's 2026 World Cup organising company in 2024, and asked why that payment was not disclosed in FIFA's annual report.
Even the small stuff is on the list. European Council members want to know why the World Cup final half-time show ran as long as it did, and why hydration breaks were introduced at the finals. The letter is nothing if not thorough.
Can the FIFA election be fair?
Perhaps the sharpest question concerns the independence of the election that Infantino hopes to win again. UEFA noted that Bruno Chiomento, chair of the electoral committee, has known Infantino for 20 years and spent the full five weeks of the World Cup as a guest, with all his expenses covered by FIFA.
'In view of the importance of ensuring the independence and perceived impartiality of the electoral process, would FIFA consider Mr Chiomento's recusal and replacement by his deputy for the duration of the presidential election?' the letter asked.
It is a fair question, phrased with a courtesy that does not disguise its edge. A judge on the federation's tab for a month is not obviously the person to referee the boss's re-election.
FIFA has been approached for comment.
Why this matters beyond the boardroom
There is a temptation to file this as a quarrel between suits in Nyon and Zurich. It is more than that. FIFA administers the most popular game on earth, and the money it moves comes, in the end, from working people who follow their clubs and countries through everything. When 20% of the World Cup's commercial engine is offered to private investors, when payments to the president go undisclosed, when the referee of the election is a longtime friend of the candidate, the game's supporters are entitled to ask who the institution actually serves.
UEFA lost confidence in Infantino in August. It has now put its questions in writing, set a date, and signalled that it will field a challenger before 18 November. Whether FIFA answers by 2 November, and what those answers contain, will shape the most contested FIFA presidential election in a generation.
FAQ
What deadline has UEFA given FIFA?
UEFA has asked FIFA to supply all answers and relevant documents by 2 November 2026.
What was the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan?
It was a proposal to sell a 20% stake in a company running the World Cup and other competitions to private investors. Infantino withdrew it on 1 August 2026 after three continental confederations, including UEFA, rejected it.
Who might run against Infantino in the FIFA presidential election?
UEFA has said it will identify a credible alternative candidate. The deadline for candidates to be submitted is 18 November 2026, but no name has been confirmed.
Why does UEFA question the election's independence?
UEFA says electoral committee chair Bruno Chiomento has known Infantino for 20 years and attended the entire World Cup with his expenses paid by FIFA, and it has asked whether he should recuse himself.