Uefa, the governing body of European football, is preparing criminal legal proceedings against Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, over the controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and its competitions to private investors. Documents obtained by BBC Sport reveal an application to Switzerland has been made by European football’s governing body requesting access to evidence and documents for use in proceedings against the embattled president himself, who Uefa accuses of ‘criminal mismanagement’. The application centers on the proposed sale of stakes in the World Cup and other competitions, which was scrapped following widespread backlash.
Uefa’s application, filed by European football’s governing body, states: ‘In truth, 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.’ Uefa’s application also points to a hastily convened meeting where a limited number of Fifa’s management officials and employees – some of whom had never heard of the plan – were given mere hours to sign off on an unprecedented multi-billion dollar scheme. The plan was conceived without independent verification and was reportedly developed in secret for over a year.
In the application, Uefa is seeking to access files held by two Fifa businesses – Fifa Americas and FWC2026 – to pursue criminal charges in Switzerland at a later stage. Key figures at Uefa and in European football met today in Monaco before the Champions League draw, where Infantino’s status was one item on the agenda. A statement sent to the media by Uefa said: ‘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.’
BBC Sport has approached Infantino and Fifa for comment.
Uefa claims that the valuation of the stakes to be sold were not independently verified and would have been offered too cheaply, calling the proposed sale “a fraudulent off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit.” The application adds: ‘Under the terms Infantino announced, those investors stood to acquire a permanent financial interest in Fifa’s commercial arm for $4.2bn, implying an absurdly low enterprise value of only approximately $20bn, a figure that was neither the product of an open, competitive auction, nor tested by any independent valuer.’ The application states that under the terms Infantino announced, those investors stood to acquire a permanent financial interest in Fifa’s commercial arm for $4.2bn, implying an absurdly low enterprise value of only approximately $20bn, a figure that was neither the product of an open, competitive auction, nor tested by any independent valuer.
Uefa insists that the plan was concocted without the knowledge of them or other key stakeholders in football, and that it had been long in development. The applications says: ‘On July 28, 2026, without consulting the Fifa Council, Uefa, or any of the other confederations, or any of the 211 Fifa member associations, Infantino, purportedly acting on behalf of Fifa, publicly announced a plan to place the commercial rights to the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new subsidiary: Fifa Forward Enterprise.’ “That announcement by Infantino was the public unveiling of a plan that he and a small circle of co-conspirators had conceived and reportedly been developing in secret for more than a year.” Uefa states in the document that there has been ‘an enduring history of corruption among Fifa officials’ and claims that world football’s governing body only relents on its plans when pressure comes from outside the sport. ‘Fifa’s extraordinary power over world football has operated largely without meaningful internal constraint, with accountability principally through external forces, including political pressure, public scrutiny, and intervention through international criminal law enforcement.’
Uefa insists that the plan was concocted without the knowledge of them or other key stakeholders in football, and that it had been long in development. The applications says: ‘Swiss counsel has confirmed […] that the proceeding is within reasonable contemplation for purposes of Swiss law and that Uefa has standing, as a complainant, to file a criminal complaint for criminal mismanagement against Infantino and potentially other Fifa officials as may be warranted.’ BBC Sport has been told that a separate filing has been lodged to a court in New York, where Uefa is seeking documentation from Thrive Capital, the business proposed to take up an interest in FFE, and its founder Josh Kushner, the brother of US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Uefa also approaches Uefa for comment.
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Source: Adom Sports
