European football governing body UEFA is pursuing criminal legal proceedings against FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, over a scrapped plan to sell stakes in the organisation’s most valuable commercial assets to private investors.
Documents seen by BBC Sport show that UEFA has applied for access to evidence and documents that it intends to use in potential criminal proceedings in Switzerland against Infantino and FIFA.
UEFA alleges that Infantino engineered the proposed deal to enrich himself and a small group of potential private investors at the expense of FIFA, its members and other stakeholders in world football.
According to the application, the plan would have allowed investors to acquire a permanent stake in FIFA’s commercial arm for $4.2 billion.
UEFA argues that the deal implied an enterprise value of about $20 billion, which it described as far too low because the valuation was neither subjected to an open competitive bidding process nor independently assessed.
The European body further alleged that Infantino pushed the proposal through FIFA’s internal approval process only days before it was publicly announced, during a hastily arranged meeting involving a limited number of FIFA officials and employees.
UEFA claimed some of those officials had never previously heard of the proposal and were given only hours to approve what it described as an unprecedented multi-billion-dollar scheme.
UEFA seeks evidence in US court
As part of its efforts, UEFA has applied to a court in Florida, where businesses established by FIFA to deliver the 2026 World Cup are based.
The application seeks access to files and other evidence that could later be used in criminal proceedings in Switzerland.
UEFA said its 55 member associations could have suffered financial and other harm from the proposed sell-off.
It also indicated that criminal proceedings could be brought against other FIFA officials and advisers over what it described as possible criminal mismanagement.
“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,” the application stated.
UEFA further alleged that the plan was developed secretly and without the knowledge of the FIFA Council, the confederations or FIFA’s 211 member associations.
World Cup rights at centre of dispute
The dispute centres on a plan announced by Infantino on July 28, 2026, to place the commercial rights to the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup under a new subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
UEFA said the announcement was the public unveiling of a plan that Infantino and a small group had allegedly been developing in secret for more than a year.
The organisation accused Infantino of acting without consulting the FIFA Council, UEFA, other confederations or any of FIFA’s 211 member associations.
UEFA said the proposed structure, valuation, financing and marketing of the deal could have damaged FIFA’s reputation, governance authority and commercial relationships.
The allegations have not been proven in court, and the proposed sell-off has since been scrapped.
More to follow.
