The past few months have been bruising for Gianni Infantino and FIFA. Their private-investment plan for FIFA Forward Enterprise collapsed, while a proposed World Cup expansion has faced growing resistance. Several former players have also criticized FIFA’s current leadership. Now, UEFA is seeking U.S. discovery as it considers a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland against Infantino and other FIFA figures.
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Football drama at its peak.
“UEFA has sent a 60-page discovery claim… as it prepares to take criminal action against Gianni Infantino in Switzerland,” reported Ben Jacobs.
UEFA has turned a failed FIFA proposal into a possible criminal case against Gianni Infantino. A party sent a 60-page application to a United States court in Florida, asking for documents from FIFA-linked entities. UEFA says the evidence could support the criminal proceedings in Switzerland against Infantino and other executives in FIFA.
The allegations are about criminal mismanagement, although there hasn’t been any proof or ruling about this. A business plan that looked to have been buried has suddenly given rise to a criminal court battle.
The filing asks American courts to release communications and records connected with FIFA Forward Enterprise. UEFA had already told Infantino, FIFA, and 14 other executives to keep the materials they want ready.
Those named executives could hold emails, messages, or documents talking about how the FFE and the proposal developed away from almost every country. UEFA now wants those records examined before deciding whether they want to pursue criminal charges or not.
That search takes the story back to Infantino’s announcement, which was a surprise to everyone.
On July 28, Infantino unveiled FIFA Forward Enterprise, or as he called it, FFE. FFE would control commercial rights for the men’s, women’s, and Club World Cups. They offered private investors 20% of the stakes. FIFA expected around $4.2 billion in return for selling that 20%. The deal therefore placed an implied $20 billion value on some of football’s biggest competitions.
That number became the center of UEFA’s concerns about the proposal and valuation. UEFA questions whether someone clearly checked the valuation and whether the reported investors faced any competition.
Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital was expected to become an anchor investor, and there were reports of JPMorgan also being involved. UEFA wants documents showing how the team conducted the valuation and who led these discussions. The concern is that FIFA’s valuation is not even close to what the actual value could be.
FIFA scrapped the plan on July 31 following a UEFA-led backlash, with other football stakeholders also opposing the proposal. UEFA said the plan had been developed without adequate prior consultation with member associations and confederations.