The bitter power struggle at the top of world football shows no sign of abating, with Uefa now preparing to pursue criminal legal action against Fifa president Gianni Infantino over his scrapped plan to sell stakes in football competitions to private investors.
Legal papers filed by Uefa in the United States accuse Infantino of "criminal mismanagement" and describe his conduct as "a stunning dereliction of duty." The documents allege that the World Cup was assigned "a fraudulently off-market price" that benefited Infantino personally, and claim the entire process was carried out under a "veil of secrecy" without any competitive auction or independent valuation.
The plan, known as Fifa Forward Enterprise, was revealed roughly a month ago before being abandoned within days amid fierce backlash. Uefa's filings argue the scheme caused "direct and concrete injury" to Fifa and its 211 member associations by undervaluing the World Cup at around £15bn. The papers, which reference alleged "cronies" and "co-conspirators" of Infantino, are seeking access to evidence in the US that could be used in future criminal proceedings against him in Switzerland.
Despite the mounting legal pressure, Infantino has enjoyed something of a resurgence in recent days. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation publicly backed his efforts to "restore unity," and Uefa itself dropped its threat to boycott Fifa competitions after receiving assurances that a scheme like FFE would not be repeated. Infantino has continued an extensive round of international travel, including recent visits to the Dominican Republic, Paris and Vietnam, in what appears to be an effort to consolidate support ahead of a potential re-election bid.
Neither Infantino nor Fifa have directly responded to Uefa's latest legal move, with officials saying their focus remains on next week's U20 Women's World Cup in Poland.
Uefa's court filings target three parties for evidence: Fifa itself, venture capital firm Thrive Capital—led by Josh Kushner, who was set to be the lead investor in FFE—and Greg Maffei, the former Formula 1 executive who advised on the proposed deal. Neither Kushner nor Maffei are expected to face charges themselves, but Uefa is seeking subpoenas compelling them to produce documents and give testimony. Legal experts suggest Kushner, brother-in-law of Donald Trump's son-in-law and recently agreed buyer of the Los Angeles Lakers for £9.3bn, may resist the subpoena on confidentiality grounds tied to his business interests.
Sports lawyer Nick de Marco KC said Uefa's chances of securing disclosure appeared strong. "What Uefa have to show is that they have an arguable case for criminal proceedings to be brought against Infantino," he said. "If they can show that, then they ought to be given disclosure of a lot of the documents." He cautioned, however, that any trial remained a distant prospect: "We're a long way off from that—the first stage is this disclosure application... I think what we will likely see is disclosure of very interesting documents and more light shone onto this plan."
History offers little certainty for Uefa. A 2002 criminal complaint against then-president Sepp Blatter was dropped by Zurich prosecutors, while a lengthy investigation into Blatter and former Uefa chief Michel Platini ended last year with both men cleared of corruption charges.
Alongside its legal push, Uefa says it wants "fundamental reform" of Fifa's governance structures and has called for an independent review of the FFE plan. Vice-president Laura McAllister said any successor to Infantino would need broad credibility. "We need governance rooted on principles like transparency, independence and critical challenge," she said, adding that finding a unifying alternative candidate would take time.
With Fifa's presidential nominations due in November and an election scheduled for March, and Infantino widely expected to seek a fourth term, the standoff between him and Uefa appears far from resolution.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.