FIFA accuses UEFA of "smear campaign" over Infantino's scrapped World Cup stake sale

FIFA has formally accused UEFA of running a “smear campaign” against it and its leadership, escalating a legal and public-relations battle over president Gianni Infantino’s abandoned plan to sell a stake in World Cup commercial rights to private investors.

The dispute in court

Last week, UEFA filed applications in multiple US federal courts seeking discovery—testimony and documents—from FIFA-related entities and from people connected to the proposed deal, including venture capitalist Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Eternal and adviser Greg Maffei. UEFA says the material would support potential criminal proceedings in Switzerland alleging “criminal mismanagement” by Infantino over the now-shelved FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme.

In response, FIFA lodged its own filings in the US, asking that discovery be deferred or opposed. It argues UEFA’s request “suffers from a fundamental defect” because it is “discovery in aid of a foreign criminal proceeding that does not exist and that UEFA admittedly lacks the authority to initiate”. FIFA also insists FFE was “only a proposal” that could have proceeded only with majority support from member associations and approval from the FIFA Council.

“Rather than participate in that democratic process, UEFA issued a press release—the beginning of a weeks-long smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership,” FIFA wrote in a court filing seen by the BBC and other outlets.

UEFA’s core allegations

UEFA’s 56-page filing describes FFE as “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”. It alleges:

• Infantino promoted a “fraudulently off-market price” for his own benefit, with the World Cup and related assets allegedly valued at about £15 billion—“a figure that was neither the product of an open, competitive auction, nor tested by any independent valuer”.

• The concept was developed in secret over many months without proper consultation of FIFA’s Council, confederations, or the 211 member associations before being unveiled on 28 July.

• UEFA is preparing criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino (and possibly other officials/advisers) for “criminal mismanagement” under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code.

UEFA has not commented publicly on FIFA’s “smear campaign” claim, though BBC Sport has been told insiders believe that if FIFA “has nothing to hide, it should disclose the documents and speed up the legal process”.

The FFE plan and why it collapsed

Under FFE, a new FIFA commercial subsidiary would have sold a 20% stake to a private investor group led by Thrive Eternal in a deal worth $4.2 billion (£3.1 billion). FIFA said at the time the structure would have raised the funding distributed to each national association for the 2027–2030 cycle from £5.9 million to £14.7 million.

The plan was abandoned days after being revealed in late July following intense backlash from UEFA, several confederations, and member associations. Kushner later expressed regret, saying: “While we stand behind the motivations of FFE, we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football… had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved.”

FIFA’s counter-narrative: UEFA’s “economic motivation”

FIFA’s filings also attack UEFA’s motives, arguing the European body wants to block smaller countries from gaining financial strength that would increase global competition.

“If soccer is strengthened in the developing world, global competition increases, which ultimately reduces UEFA’s market power and provides more competition for its flagship tournaments,” FIFA said. It added that FFE would have helped smaller member