FIFA’s legal team has accused UEFA of harassing Gianni Infantino, urging a Florida judge to reject the European soccer body’s request for evidence discovery regarding a controversial World Cup private investor initiative. The court filing, spanning 21 pages and submitted to the Southern District of Florida, argues that UEFA’s insinuation that the FIFA president aimed to personally benefit from the project is unfounded. UEFA sought authorization for discovery in three different courts, including Manhattan and Miami, as part of their efforts to build a criminal case against Infantino for financial mismanagement in Switzerland.
FIFA’s lawyers contend that UEFA’s actions indicate bad faith and harassment, emphasizing that the timing of these legal maneuvers coincides with the upcoming FIFA presidential election in Morocco next March, where Infantino intends to run for a final term until 2031. UEFA has been at the forefront of the opposition to the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, which involved creating a subsidiary and selling a portion of FIFA’s future commercial rights to investors, notably led by Josh Kushner.
Allegations from UEFA suggested that Infantino promoted the FFE project at an inflated price for personal gain, insinuating a potential conflict of interest. However, FIFA’s legal representatives have refuted these claims, stating that Infantino had no personal financial stake in the venture. The controversial nature of the FFE plan, revealed in July and subsequently retracted, led to internal criticism within FIFA, resulting in the resignation of key figures like Kevin Lamour and Carlos Cordeiro.
Infantino has since acknowledged shortcomings in the handling of the sell-off proposal and has offered to undergo an external review of FIFA’s governance practices. Despite the backlash, FIFA maintains that the FFE initiative was designed to boost global soccer development beyond the traditional strongholds in Europe. In a related development, Infantino communicated to FIFA’s member federations the possibility of increasing cash payments from the organization’s reserves, responding to calls from various federations for a larger financial distribution.
As Infantino navigates the aftermath of the World Cup sell-off controversy, a FIFA Council meeting scheduled for October 15 in Zurich will address proposals on financial matters and governance, as the organization seeks to address the fallout from the contentious project.
