UEFA to Bring Criminal Complaint Against Gianni Infantino
European football's governing body said it is preparing a criminal complaint against the FIFA president over his failed investor plan.
On the day UEFA reportedly waived their threat of boycotting FIFA events, the European sports governing body has escalated its pressure on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to step down. UEFA has requested permission from a US federal court to gain access to information and materials concerning the development of the failed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) subsidiary.
The subsidiary was a plan conceived by Infantino to sell shares in FIFA's commercial rights related to the men's and women's World Cups, as well as the Club World Cup. Both UEFA and its legal team are considering initiating a criminal investigation in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials for alleged criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code.
According to a 56-page document provided to various news outlets, UEFA contends that Infantino's creation of the FFE plan was carried out clandestinely by a small circle of advisors and investors, circumventing FIFA's standard governance procedures. The European association also asserts that the valuation proposed in the plan vastly underestimated FIFA's commercial rights, arguing that it was not subjected to an open bidding process or reviewed by an independent appraiser.
UEFA is currently seeking access to a trove of documents related to the background of the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan. These documents are believed to include a meeting held in a New York City hotel on the eve of the World Cup final, where several high-ranking FIFA officials were informed about the plan. Two out of five directors present at the meeting reportedly disagreed with the proposal, with one of them, Kevin Lamour, who serves as chief operating officer, subsequently leaving FIFA.
If UEFA successfully obtains the documents, their intention is to present them in a complaint they intend to file in Switzerland, the country where both UEFA and FIFA are headquartered. Swiss legal representatives have confirmed that the legal action against Infantino is plausible under Swiss law. They believe that Infantino's actions described in the complaint constitute criminal mismanagement.
Written by urgent.news from Tempo.co English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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