FIFA’s legal team has accused UEFA of harassing Gianni Infantino in a court document filed in Florida, urging a judge to reject UEFA’s request for evidence related to a controversial World Cup private investor scheme. The filing, spanning 21 pages and disclosed to The Associated Press, refuted UEFA’s insinuation that the FIFA president aimed to personally benefit from the project, which stirred controversy in July and was swiftly abandoned.
UEFA sought court approval for evidence discovery in three jurisdictions, including Manhattan and Miami, to aid in a potential criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland over financial mismanagement allegations. FIFA’s attorneys argued that UEFA’s actions were driven by ill intentions and constituted harassment.
The filing also highlighted the upcoming deadline on November 18 for candidates to enter the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March in Morocco. Infantino intends to run for a final term until 2031 and FIFA’s lawyers emphasized the need to ensure that the election process remains free from external influence.
Following the backlash to the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan, UEFA is gearing up to challenge Infantino in the election. The FFE proposal, which involved the creation of a subsidiary to sell a portion of FIFA’s commercial rights to investors, including Josh Kushner, was met with criticism. UEFA alleged that Infantino promoted an inflated valuation of the project for personal gain, which FIFA vehemently denied.
The controversial plan, unveiled in July through media reports, led to internal dissent within FIFA, resulting in the resignation of key personnel who opposed the deal. Infantino later admitted to mistakes in handling the sell-off plan and offered to commission an external review of FIFA’s governance practices.
FIFA maintained that the FFE initiative aimed to drive global soccer development beyond Europe’s affluent sphere. In a separate development, Infantino communicated his willingness to distribute more funds from FIFA’s reserves to member federations, responding to calls for increased financial support from various regional bodies. The FIFA Council is slated to convene in October to discuss financial and governance matters amidst the aftermath of the contentious World Cup sell-off proposal.