UEFA preparing criminal legal action against Infantino

UEFA is preparing criminal legal proceedings against FIFA president Gianni Infantino over the scrapped plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup and other competitions to private investors. Documents show UEFA has requested access to evidence and documents in Switzerland against Infantino, accusing him of "criminal mismanagement".

UEFA also considers pursuing criminal action against other FIFA officials. The controversial plan, proposed by Infantino, involved creating a new company, Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), to sell stakes in FIFA's football competitions. The plan was scrapped after widespread backlash due to concerns it would benefit Infantino and a small circle of co-conspirators at the expense of FIFA, its members, and other parties.

UEFA claims the stakes were not independently verified and offered at a fraudulently low price of $4.2 billion, implying an absurdly low enterprise value of only $20 billion. The football governing body alleges that the proposed sale would have harmed its 55 member nations and potentially other FIFA officials. FIFA headquarters are in Zurich, Switzerland, and UEFA believes the plan is within reasonable contemplation for Swiss law, giving UEFA standing to file a criminal complaint against Infantino and potentially other FIFA officials.