UEFA to bring criminal complaint against Infantino

A day after UEFA reportedly dropped their threat of boycotting FIFA events, the European soccer body has escalated its pressure on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to step down. UEFA has petitioned a US federal court to gain access to materials surrounding the inception of the ill-fated FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) subsidiary. FFE was Infantino's scheme to divest a share of FIFA's commercial rights associated with the men's and women's World Cups, as well as the Club World Cup.

According to UEFA's 56-page legal document, the association is considering a Swiss criminal case against Infantino, possibly along with other FIFA officials, for criminal mismanagement under the Swiss Criminal Code's Article 158. UEFA claims that Infantino's development of FFE was not aligned with FIFA's standard governance procedures and lacked consultation with the FIFA Council.

The organization asserts that the valuation in the plan significantly underestimated FIFA's commercial rights, as it was not subjected to an open auction or reviewed by an independent expert. UEFA is requesting access to a list of documents detailing the background of the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, including a meeting at a New York City hotel the night before the World Cup final where several top FIFA executives were briefed on the plan.

Two out of the five directors present at the meeting declined to support the plan, including chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, who has since departed from FIFA. UEFA intends to use these documents as part of a complaint to be filed in Switzerland, where both UEFA and FIFA are headquartered. Swiss counsel has affirmed that the proceeding is a plausible legal action under Swiss law, based on the facts outlined in the application.

Infantino and FIFA ultimately abandoned the FFE plans due to mounting pressure from UEFA and other confederations such as AFC in Asia and CONCACAF in North and Central America. However, the pressure on Infantino remains.