Manchester (GNP): The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has asked a US federal court for permission to obtain testimony and documents from FIFA entities in Florida for use in a planned criminal complaint in Switzerland against Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino.
In an ex parte application filed under US law, European football’s governing body said it is considering criminal proceedings against Infantino and potentially other FIFA officials and advisers over a now-abandoned plan to transfer commercial rights linked to the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
UEFA alleges Infantino developed the proposal in secret with a small group of advisers and investors, bypassing FIFA’s normal governance processes and failing to consult FIFA’s Council, regional confederations, or member associations. The filing seeks discovery from FIFA (AMERICAS), Inc. and FWC2026 US, Inc., two Florida-based FIFA entities, which UEFA said may hold documents and witnesses relevant to how the FFE transaction was conceived, structured, valued, and approved.
Infantino has previously described FFE as an opportunity to increase football development funding, stating it remained only a proposal requiring majority support from FIFA’s 211 member associations and Council approval.
Building its case, UEFA said it and other interested parties are preparing claims in Switzerland against Infantino for alleged criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code, alleging the plan was developed for more than a year without consultation before its unveiling on July 28.
According to the filing, Infantino designated Thrive Eternal, an investment vehicle controlled by Joshua Kushner and affiliated with Thrive Capital, to lead an investor group that UEFA alleges stood to acquire a permanent financial interest in FIFA’s commercial arm.
UEFA further said investors would have paid $4.2 billion for a stake in FFE, valuing the business at about $20 billion, a figure it argues significantly undervalued FIFA’s commercial rights given the absence of an open auction or independent valuation.
The proposal met swift resistance across world football. UEFA said its 55 member associations unanimously agreed at an emergency meeting on July 30 not to participate in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, unless the plan was withdrawn, prompting FIFA to abandon the proposal on July 31.
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Following written assurances that the FFE project had been irrevocably and permanently withdrawn, UEFA provisionally suspended its planned boycott of FIFA competitions, a decision that clears the way for all qualified teams to participate in next month’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland.
Despite the suspension, UEFA said its members have unanimously mandated the confederation to pursue every available institutional, political, and legal avenue to secure reforms and restore limits on presidential authority, and it has called for a genuinely independent external review of the failed proposal.
UEFA also questioned the rationale behind the plan given FIFA’s financial position, noting that FIFA currently holds billions of dollars in reserves belonging to its member associations, and said internal FIFA staff had complained of being deceived, with Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom reported to have been excluded from drafting the proposal.
Infantino, who has announced he will seek a fourth term in March 2027, retains support from the African and South American confederations and received backing from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) on Thursday, which said it supports his continued leadership efforts to restore unity across football.
UEFA, meanwhile, warned that should Infantino seek another mandate, it would work with partner confederations to offer member associations a credible reform-focused alternative.
