UEFA preparing criminal complaint against FIFA’s Infantino, asks U.S. courts for FIFA documents
UEFA Moves to Criminalize Infantino Over Collapsed FIFA Commercial Deal
Bizeconanalysis.com – European football’s governing body has escalated its confrontation with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to the level of a planned criminal prosecution in Switzerland, while simultaneously seeking American court orders to pull financial records and witness testimony from FIFA-linked offices in Florida. The two-track strategy, laid out in a 56-page court filing submitted Thursday, centers on what UEFA’s lawyers describe as criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code — a charge that could carry prison sentences if proven.
The dispute traces back to a now-abandoned scheme in which Infantino proposed carving out the commercial rights attached to the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a newly created subsidiary named FIFA Forward Enterprise. Under the original terms, outside investors would have paid $4.2 billion for a 20 percent stake in that entity, effectively locking in a permanent financial interest in the soccer body’s most lucrative revenue streams.
Discovery Requests Target Florida and New York
UEFA has asked a federal court in southern Florida — where FIFA maintains offices in the Coral Gables neighborhood of Miami — to authorize discovery “in a foreign proceeding.” The goal is to compel testimony and document production from FIFA entities operating in that district, materials that would feed directly into the Swiss criminal complaint.
In parallel, the organization filed a separate request in a Manhattan court seeking discovery from Thrive Capital Management, the New York investment fund founded by Joshua Kushner. Kushner, who is the younger brother of Jared Kushner — President Donald Trump’s son-in-law — was positioned as an anchor investor in the FIFA Forward Enterprise deal alongside his own fund.
The Kushner–Trump Nexus and Summer Scrutiny
The personal and political dimensions of the arrangement drew sustained attention during this summer’s World Cup, hosted jointly by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Infantino’s close relationship with the American president meant that every detail of the proposed investment structure was examined under a political microscope. The fact that Kushner’s fund was slated to wire $4.2 billion into a FIFA-controlled vehicle, while his brother-in-law’s administration hosted the tournament, complicated the optics considerably.
Separately, Kushner and former Walt Disney Company chief executive Bob Iger have agreed to acquire the Los Angeles Lakers franchise for $12.5 billion, according to sources familiar with the transaction. That parallel deal further heightened public interest in Kushner’s financial entanglements with global sports institutions.
UEFA’s Threat, the Plan’s Collapse, and the Legal Aftermath
UEFA was the first major confederation to push back. The body threatened to boycott every FIFA-sponsored competition — a move that would have swept in the next men’s World Cup, scheduled for co-hosting by Europe and Africa. Spain, a UEFA member and the reigning World Cup champions, would have been among the nations affected.
The pressure proved decisive. On August 1, Infantino was forced to abandon the scheme after his senior adviser — a figure who had sat on a White House advisory panel — resigned, and after Asia’s soccer confederation joined Europe and North America in formally opposing the plan. Two days later, on August 3, UEFA issued a sharp public statement declaring that it had lost confidence in Infantino’s leadership of FIFA and warned the organization not to destroy or conceal any “relevant materials” connected to the proposal.
The Financial Argument: A $20 Billion Valuation Question
At the heart of UEFA’s grievance is the pricing. A $4.2 billion payment for a 20 percent stake implies a total enterprise value of roughly $20 billion for FIFA’s commercial operations. UEFA’s lawyers argue that figure was neither the product of an open, competitive auction nor validated by any independent valuer. In their court filing, they suggest the number could constitute a “fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit.”
“Infantino claimed that the plan would ‘unleash the commercial potential and opportunity that FIFA has,'” UEFA’s lawyers wrote. “In truth, it was a vehicle for Infantino and that small circle to acquire a permanent stake in and otherwise profit from FIFA’s most valuable assets to the detriment of FIFA, its members, and other parties within the football family.”
The Swiss criminal code provision cited — Article 158 — addresses mismanagement by persons entrusted with managing another’s affairs, and carries penalties that can include imprisonment. UEFA’s counsel indicated they are “contemplating” the proceeding against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials, meaning the complaint has not yet been formally lodged but is in active preparation.
What Comes Next
The outcome of the Florida and Manhattan discovery motions will determine how much documentary evidence UEFA can marshal before approaching a Swiss prosecutor. If the courts grant the requests, the organization would gain access to internal FIFA communications, valuation analyses, and investor correspondence that could either substantiate or undermine the mismanagement allegations.
Spokespeople for both FIFA and Thrive Capital Management declined to comment on the filings. Infantino’s office has not issued a public response to the prospect of a criminal complaint. For European clubs, national associations, and fans who follow the sport’s governance, the coming months will test whether the continent’s most powerful football body can translate its stated loss of confidence into a prosecutable case — or whether the matter dissolves into another chapter of institutional friction without accountability.
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