Fifa president Gianni Infantino is facing pressure from council members to include the abandoned World Cup sell-off plan in an external review of Fifa's governance. The review, which Infantino will ask the council to commission at its next meeting on 15 October in Zurich, is intended to examine Fifa's current governance framework for major strategic initiatives. However, council members are unhappy with Infantino's initial proposal and are demanding that he include a retrospective analysis of the abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme and the Balogun affair.
The Football Association's chair, Debbie Hewitt, has written to Infantino demanding the release of all documents relating to the FFE scheme and the background to Fifa's decision to lift Balogun's suspension during the World Cup. Many fellow council members support Hewitt's request, which has added to the pressure on Infantino to include the abandoned World Cup sell-off plan and the Balogun affair in the review.
Infantino's offer of a governance review has been met with scepticism by some council members, who believe it is a cynical ploy to secure his re-election next year. A vote on the matter at council is likely to be tight, with Infantino facing opposition from a significant number of council members. The outcome of the vote will be decided at the council meeting on 15 October in Zurich.