FIFA-UEFA: access to FFE project documents marks limited progress in standoff

FIFA has opened a window, but its files are not yet fully in the open. On 2 November 2026, as the deadline set by UEFA expired, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström invited members of the FIFA Council to request access to documents concerning the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project. According to Sky News and the Press Association, the consultation would be limited to Council members, in Zurich, under strict confidentiality rules. As of that date, FIFA had not made the documents public or provided all the answers requested by UEFA. Progress is therefore real, but limited: the debate is shifting from denial of access to the conditions of a review that remains internal.

A consultation announced, not disclosure

The new development is specific. In a letter to Council members, Grafström is reported to have offered access to “key documents” relating to FFE. Sky News reports that elected members would have two weeks to express their interest and would have to consult the documents at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, under a protocol designed to preserve confidentiality. The Press Association, as reported by The Irish News, specifies that, for now, access would be limited to the FFE file. Reuters also reports that the invitation was made and that FIFA intends to respond to Council members “in due course”.

The distinction is crucial: this is neither open publication nor the handover of documents to UEFA as an organisation. The sources consulted do not provide a list of the documents available, the precise arrangements for consultation or whether copies may be taken. The public therefore cannot yet verify whether the material makes it possible to establish who devised the proposal, how it was assessed and at what stage the relevant bodies were involved.

The 2 November deadline did not produce a complete response

The timetable explains the political significance of the gesture. On 19 October, UEFA had requested a written response and supporting documents by Monday 2 November. In its letter, reported by The Guardian, it said the explanations given to the Council on 15 October did not address several fundamental questions. UEFA had grouped 42 questions into 12 areas, including FFE, the handling of Folarin Balogun’s disciplinary case, the FIFA Peace Prize and governance issues.

On 2 November, Reuters reported that FIFA considered the two-week deadline difficult to meet, citing operational constraints and ongoing legal proceedings in the United States, among other factors. The proposed access to FFE documents alone therefore does not, in itself, address the other parts of the letter. Two things must also be distinguished: UEFA has raised requests and concerns; these do not in themselves amount to established findings of wrongdoing or irregularity.

FFE has been abandoned, but the circumstances of its development remain disputed

The project at the centre of the dispute has now been withdrawn. FIFA had considered setting up a commercial entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise, to manage the commercial interests of its competitions, with the possibility of private investors taking an equity stake. Following criticism, the project was abandoned in summer 2026. The governing body subsequently acknowledged mistakes in the way it had been handled and communicated, while defending its stated aim of increasing funding for football development.

In its official report on the Council meeting of 15 October, FIFA says that FFE has been permanently withdrawn and that its legal details remain confidential because of proceedings in the United States. It also announced a working group on its governance. FIFA therefore says it has begun an institutional response; UEFA, for its part, is asking to review the decisions and related documents retrospectively. The issue is no longer just whether the project will go ahead, but whether its preparation can be traced and whether oversight bodies can fulfil their role before a proposal of this scale is made public.

Transparency with conditions, put to the test of trust

A consultation restricted to Council members could allow football officials to examine sensitive documents without immediately releasing them. FIFA cites restrictions linked to confidentiality and the US litigation; legal constraints are therefore a genuine factor in the case, not a mere procedural detail. But this approach makes independent scrutiny difficult for federations that do not sit on the Council, the media and the public. At this stage, it also offers no way of knowing whether the documents will be complete enough to answer the questions raised.

FIFA has also announced that it is working on a broader response to Council members. According to Reuters, the timetable includes the next Council meeting on 16 December, after the 18 November deadline for nominations for the presidency; the election is scheduled for March 2027. This proximity gives the sequence a political dimension: federations will have to assess the governing body’s conduct and Gianni Infantino’s candidacy without necessarily having access to the substantive material beyond the circle of Council members.

What happens next will depend on the documents and their scope

Three concrete questions remain open in assessing the significance of this announcement: will members be able to consult a complete file or just a selection of documents? Will FIFA respond separately to UEFA’s other requests? And will the US legal proceedings eventually allow broader disclosure? The sources available as of 3 November do not make it possible to resolve these points. Nor do they show that UEFA has accepted the consultation conditions or considers the deadline to have been met.

The measured conclusion is therefore this: FIFA has granted unprecedented internal access to FFE documents, but has not yet provided the public transparency and comprehensive response demanded by UEFA. The contents of the file, the restrictions that accompany access and the timetable for the wider response will determine whether the gesture can restore a minimum level of trust or will merely prolong the standoff until the electoral deadlines.