The war of words between football's two most powerful governing bodies has intensified, with Fifa formally accusing Uefa of orchestrating a smear campaign against its leadership as the two organisations trade legal blows on both sides of the Atlantic.
The conflict traces back to Uefa's decision last week to pursue criminal proceedings in Switzerland against Fifa president Gianni Infantino, centred on his now-abandoned scheme to sell commercial stakes in the World Cup to private investors. The plan, known internally as the Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal, triggered fierce backlash across the sport and briefly raised the prospect of a full-blown rupture between European football and world football's governing body.
According to a 56-page filing submitted by Uefa's legal team to a federal court in the United States, the European confederation is readying criminal complaints against Infantino for alleged mismanagement tied to the scrapped commercial venture. Although Uefa has since pulled back from threats to boycott the World Cup and other Fifa-run tournaments, tensions between the two bodies remain far from resolved.
Fifa has now responded with its own court submission in the US, asking judges to either delay Uefa's access to internal documents or reject the request outright before the end of September. In its motion to intervene, Fifa insisted that the enterprise scheme was never more than a proposal, one that would have required backing from a majority of member associations along with formal sign-off from the Fifa Council before ever being implemented.
Fifa's filing was pointed in its criticism of Uefa's approach, stating that rather than engaging through proper democratic channels, the European body chose instead to issue a public statement that marked the start of what Fifa described as a prolonged smear campaign against the organisation and its leadership.
The document went further, alleging that Uefa's legal action was riddled with deficiencies and suggesting the confederation's real motivation was to protect its own commercial dominance rather than uphold governance standards. Fifa argued that Uefa feared other footballing regions gaining the financial muscle to rival Europe's elite competitions.
According to Fifa's submission, strengthening football in developing nations would intensify global competition, which in turn would diminish Uefa's market power and create greater rivalry for its showpiece tournaments. The filing added that channeling additional funding to smaller member associations under the enterprise plan could encourage more players to represent their countries of origin and compete in domestic leagues rather than moving abroad, a shift Fifa claimed would ultimately chip away at Uefa's grip over other parts of the world.
Uefa, for its part, has characterised the commercial proposal in starkly different terms. Its own court filing described the plan as a mechanism designed to let Infantino and a small inner circle secure a lasting financial stake in, and personally benefit from, some of Fifa's most valuable commercial assets.
The legal battle is playing out in Florida, where two Fifa-affiliated entities, Fifa Americas and the 2026 World Cup organising body FWC2026 US, are headquartered. Uefa's filing seeks a wide range of documents and internal communications relating to the origin, internal deliberations, and eventual public rollout of the enterprise plan.
The dispute shows no sign of cooling, with both organisations now engaged in parallel legal manoeuvres that could drag on for months. The Independent has sought comment from Uefa regarding Fifa's latest allegations.
Based on reporting from The Independent.