Uefa says it is preparing criminal legal proceedings against Fifa president Gianni Infantino over a plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other Fifa competitions to private investors that was later dropped. Documents seen by BBC Sport state that Uefa has applied for access to evidence and files to use in Switzerland, where it is seeking proceedings against Infantino. The European governing body accuses him of “criminal mismanagement” and says it is also considering action against other Fifa officials. Uefa set out the plan after Infantino proposed, shortly after the summer World Cup, creating a new company, Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE). The proposal would have transferred commercial stakes in Fifa tournaments to outside investors. It was abandoned following widespread backlash. Uefa Seeks Evidence for a Switzerland CaseUefa said key decisions were made without consultation. It also states that it wants to take steps in Switzerland using material held in the United States. In a statement sent to the media, Uefa said representatives at a meeting in Monaco before the Champions League draw unanimously instructed the Uefa president and administration to pursue “every available institutional, political and legal avenue” to deliver reform and limit presidential authority, arguing Fifa should be governed as an institution rather than around one individual. Uefa’s application also says it is preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and, possibly, other Fifa officials and advisers. Valuation And Sale Terms ChallengedIn its legal submissions, Uefa argues that the stakes proposed for sale were not independently verified and would have been priced too cheaply, calling the sale “a fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit”. Uefa says the terms announced by Infantino would have allowed investors to take a permanent financial interest in Fifa’s commercial arm for $4.2bn. It adds that this implied an “absurdly low enterprise value” of about $20bn, which it says was not the result of an open auction or assessed by an independent valuer. Uefa also claims the company structure and the way the scheme was pushed through internal approvals amounted to conduct designed to benefit Infantino and a small circle around him. The document argues Infantino announced the FFE plan on July 28, 2026 “without consulting” the Fifa Council, Uefa, the other confederations or the 211 member associations. Uefa says the public announcement was the unveiling of a proposal it claims had been developed in secret for more than a year. Further Court Filings Across the USUefa says it is taking steps in US courts to obtain documentation for later use in Switzerland. It has applied to a court in Florida to try to access files held by two Fifa businesses based there: Fifa Americas and FWC2026. BBC Sport was told a separate filing has been lodged in New York seeking documents involving Thrive Capital, the business proposed to take up an interest in FFE, and its founder Josh Kushner, described in the filings as the brother of US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The American investment bank JP Morgan is also named. A third application has been made in Colorado, concerning former Formula 1 chief Greg Maffei, referred to in the filings as “the key commercial adviser” on the proposed FFE transaction, and his Bann Ventures firm. Uefa says its 55 member nations could have been harmed by the sell-off, and that it may pursue criminal proceedings against other Fifa officials in addition to Infantino. Why the Plan Triggered BacklashInfantino offered Fifa’s 211 member associations $40m (£30m) if they backed the proposal for private investment in its tournaments via FFE, including the men’s and women’s World Cups. Uefa led opposition, saying it had lost confidence in Infantino and that its members would boycott World Cups unless the FFE plan was scrapped. Infantino has faced calls to step down after he withdrew the proposal earlier this month. He is seeking a fourth term as Fifa president in March. Uefa and other confederations accused Infantino of breaking trust “through deception” in an open letter. While home nations withdrew support for him, Infantino retains backing from Conmebol and Caf, and some countries have broken ranks with their confederations to support him. Join the discussion? 28 August 2026
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