October 21, 2026
The European Football Association (UEFA) sent an official letter to the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), asking it to provide immediate answers to 42 questions covering 12 topics, related to the management mechanism of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, most notably the controversial “FIFA Forward Enterprise” project and the FIFA Peace Prize.
According to British media reports issued on Monday, UEFA has set November 2 as a deadline to receive these answers, meaning within two weeks. UEFA has been pointing the finger at Infantino since the launch of the “FIFA Forward Enterprise” project – which was later abandoned – which provided for the establishment of a company to manage the commercial rights of FIFA tournaments, including the World Cup, with the sale of a minority stake in it to private investors.
On the other hand, Infantino (56 years old), who is preparing to run for a new term, apologized to the FIFA Council last week, calling on members to raise any questions regarding his management style in writing to be answered during the next meeting of the Council scheduled for December 16.
However, Sky Sports and other British media outlets reported that UEFA Secretary General, Theodore Theodoridis, sent a decisive letter to his counterpart in FIFA, Matthias Grafström, in which he stressed that “these questions require answers now, and cannot be postponed until the next meeting of the FIFA Council, and future governance reforms cannot substitute for scrutinizing the decisions taken and holding their perpetrators accountable.”
For his part, a FIFA spokesman confirmed that the federation’s governance regulations impose complete confidentiality on council meetings and related documents, adding: “While FIFA intends to respond to questions submitted by members of its council, it does not intend to breach confidentiality by commenting on internal correspondence or documents to the media.”
The speaker concluded by emphasizing that respect for these regulations reflects respect for the Council and its members, and that FIFA continues to maintain this approach and will not be drawn into any discussions with external parties that may undermine this.
It is noteworthy that Gianni Infantino intends to run for re-election in March 2027, while the eighteenth of next November has been set as the deadline for submitting nominations for potential candidates.
