UEFA is preparing to pursue criminal proceedings against FIFA president Gianni Infantino over his now-withdrawn proposal to sell minority stakes in the World Cup to American investors, according to legal documentation reported by Sky News.
Infantino, 56, pulled the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, which aimed to establish a commercial arm of FIFA and sell off minority stakes in its tournaments. The plan was announced this summer, barely a week after the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in the United States.
Legal Strategy and Targets
The European football governing body is issuing subpoenas to FIFA and any US-based financial institutions implicated to secure documents, Sky News reports. The anticipated legal proceedings would reportedly take place in Switzerland, where FIFA's headquarters are located in Zurich.
UEFA has allegedly filed an application in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, targeting JP Morgan Bank, Thrive Capital—understood to be spearheading the proposed American investment consortium—and the latter's chief executive, Joshua Kushner. Kushner is the sibling of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who serves as a senior official at the Department of State as a special envoy on peace missions.
UEFA's Claims and Next Steps
In legal documentation concerning FFE, UEFA states: "It was a vehicle for Infantino and that small circle to acquire a permanent stake in and otherwise profit from FIFA's most valuable assets to the detriment of FIFA, its members, and other parties within the football family."
A legal document seen by Sky News states: "UEFA and other interested parties are preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code and such further or alternative charges as the developed factual record may support, arising out of the secretive structuring, valuation, financing, and marketing of a transaction that inflicted direct and concrete injury on FIFA's reputation, governance authority, and commercial relationships to the detriment of FIFA as well as its 211 members, including UEFA's 55 member associations."
Following a meeting, UEFA announced it will be taking "every available avenue" to pursue reform and limits on presidential authority. The governing body said in a statement: "The meeting reviewed the fallout from the FIFA President’s aborted attempt to sell an interest in the FIFA World Cup to outside investors – a scheme which exposed a profound failure of judgement, an abuse of presidential power and a conception of leadership incompatible with the duties of the highest office in world football."
"Those present unanimously mandated the UEFA President and Administration to pursue every available institutional, political and legal avenue necessary to secure fundamental reform, restore proper limits on presidential authority and ensure that FIFA is once again governed as an institution – not around one individual." Infantino plans to stand for a fourth term at the 77th FIFA Congress in March, but several European football associations have already withdrawn their support.
