UEFA Seeks US Court Access To FIFA Documents Over Planned Infantino Case

UEFA has applied to a US federal court for permission to obtain documents and testimony from FIFA entities in Florida that it says could be relevant to a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland against FIFA President Gianni Infantino and potentially other officials and advisers.

According to a court filing, UEFA is considering proceedings concerning an abandoned proposal to move commercial rights associated with the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new FIFA subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).

The application was made ex parte under US law. UEFA is seeking discovery from FIFA (AMERICAS), Inc. and FWC2026 US, Inc., both based in Florida, arguing that the entities may hold records and have access to witnesses relevant to the development, structure, valuation and approval of the proposed transaction.

UEFA said it and other interested parties were preparing claims in Switzerland alleging criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code.

Reuters has contacted FIFA for comment.

UEFA Challenges How The FFE Proposal Was Developed

UEFA alleges that Infantino and a small group of advisers and investors worked on the FFE proposal for more than a year without consulting FIFA’s Council, the regional confederations or its 211 member associations.

The European governing body said FIFA’s statutes give the Council sole authority over decisions concerning the promotion of FIFA’s commercial rights.

According to UEFA’s filing, Infantino selected Thrive Eternal, an investment vehicle controlled by Joshua Kushner and affiliated with Thrive Capital, to lead an investor group. UEFA alleges that the investors would have secured a permanent financial interest in FIFA’s commercial arm.

The filing also alleges that Greg Maffei, the former chief executive of Liberty Media, was retained as a key commercial adviser.

The proposal was unveiled on 28 July, according to the filing. UEFA alleges that the process leading up to its announcement was conducted without the wider FIFA membership being consulted.

UEFA Questions Valuation Of Commercial Rights

UEFA said investors were prepared to pay $4.2 billion for a stake in FIFA Forward Enterprise, giving the proposed business an overall valuation of approximately $20 billion.

The governing body alleges that this valuation significantly understated the worth of FIFA’s commercial rights. It also said the proposed transaction had not been subjected to an open auction or independently tested through a valuation process.

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The proposal subsequently faced opposition from football organisations, according to UEFA.

UEFA said its 55 member associations unanimously agreed at an emergency meeting on 30 July that they would not participate in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, unless the plan was withdrawn. It added that the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF later adopted the same position.

Proposal Abandoned After Internal And External Opposition

Infantino’s senior adviser for global strategy and governance, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned on 31 July, according to the filing. Cordeiro, a former president of U.S. Soccer, was quoted as describing the proposal as “a bad deal for FIFA’s member associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game.”

FIFA abandoned the FFE proposal on 1 August.

UEFA nevertheless said the withdrawal did not resolve questions about the way the proposal had been developed and advanced. Its filing alleges that FIFA staff complained internally that they had been “deceived”.

The filing also says FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom was reportedly excluded from the drafting of the proposal.

UEFA’s US application is intended to obtain evidence from the Florida-based FIFA entities for potential proceedings in Switzerland. The allegations contained in the filing have not been established by a court.