UEFA threatens FIFA with lawsuit over World Cup sale

NYON, Switzerland (AP):

European football governing body UEFA has threatened FIFA with legal action over Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell a stake in future World Cup profits to private investors, while warning that any potential evidence must be preserved.

Infantino’s secretive proposal to raise US$4.2 billion from investors, including the New York investment firm headed by Joshua Kushner, was dropped early Saturday, days after media reports triggered a global backlash.

UEFA led the opposition and, on Thursday, its 55 member federations met to discuss boycotting FIFA events and competitions while the proposal remained active.

Lawyers representing UEFA have since informed FIFA that the European body is “actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints ... arising out of and in connection with the FFE (FIFA Forward Enterprise) plan proposed by FIFA and all related matters”.

The letter, dated Friday and sent by New York-based law firm Dechert, was seen yesterday by The Associated Press (AP).

It named 18 FIFA executives whom UEFA said should preserve data, documents and electronic communications as potential evidence. Among them are Infantino, Zurich-based Chief Financial Officer Thomas Peyer, and Arsène Wenger, the former coaching great who now serves as FIFA’s head of global football development.

“UEFA puts you on formal notice that any destruction, deletion, alteration, concealment, or loss of relevant materials following receipt of this notice – or following any earlier date on which you were, or reasonably should have been, aware that proceedings were anticipated – may constitute spoliation of evidence,” the letter said.

EUROPE SEEKS RIVAL CANDIDATE

The Swedish Football Association confirmed yesterday that UEFA is actively looking “to come up with an alternative candidate” for the FIFA presidency. The next election is scheduled for March.

On Saturday, UEFA signalled its desire to end Infantino’s decade-long tenure, saying it had lost confidence in world football’s leadership and that “no option should be off the table”.

Hours earlier, Infantino had withdrawn the controversial proposal, which offered FIFA’s 211 member federations one-off payments of US$20 million each if they accepted by a mid-September deadline.

The FFE spin-off, valued by FIFA at US$20 billion, would have assumed control of the governing body’s commercial and tournament operations through to at least 2038. FIFA argued that the plan would more than double development funding over that period for its 211 member associations, which collectively own the Zurich-based non-profit organisation.

The initiative was the project of a single individual, according to FIFA Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour, who said in a sharply worded statement to the AP that staff members felt deceived by Infantino.

Legal proceedings are “reasonably anticipated”, UEFA lawyer Andrew J. Levander wrote, citing the belief among football stakeholders that the plan was “fundamentally incompatible with the proper governance of football”.

OPPOSITION TO INFANTINO

UEFA has emerged as the most vocal critic of its former employee, while the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf, football’s governing body for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, have also issued strong statements opposing the proposal.

Infantino continues to draw much of his support from Africa, while South America’s CONMEBOL is relying on him to expand the 2030 World Cup from 48 to 64 teams. Such a move would provide additional matches for Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, alongside co-hosts Spain and Portugal.

Infantino’s path to stabilising the presidency he has held for 10 and a half years appeared unclear yesterday. Reports in New York suggested he was seeking support from the administration of his close ally, US President Donald Trump, possibly through a call involving Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“There are no plans for @SecRubio to speak with Infantino and there is no call this morning,” Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, posted on social media.

A WEEK IS A LONG TIME

The private equity proposal has triggered a dramatic reversal of fortunes for Infantino since details of the plan emerged in a report by The Times of London last Tuesday.

The 56-year-old FIFA president left New York following the World Cup final two weeks ago appearing certain to secure re-election unopposed next March for a fourth and final term through to 2031.

The proposed spin-off operation could have created a commissioner-type role for Infantino beyond 2031, with compensation potentially far exceeding his current US$6 million annual salary and bonus package as FIFA president.

FIFA had indicated during the World Cup that Infantino had secured letters of support from about 200 of its 211 member federations.

Those letters are now likely to be withdrawn across Europe, with the Football Association of Wales becoming the first federation to publicly reverse its position.

The deadline for candidates is November 18, ahead of the election scheduled exactly four months later in Morocco, one of Infantino’s strongest allies and a co-host of the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.