UEFA has taken its fight with FIFA across the Atlantic, filing discovery requests in US federal courts to pry open the details of a secretive plan to sell off a chunk of the World Cup’s commercial rights. The filing, submitted on August 27, targets not just FIFA but also Thrive Capital, venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, and former Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei.
The goal: gather evidence for criminal complaints UEFA intends to file in Switzerland against FIFA President Gianni Infantino and his associates.
The deal that sparked the war
The conflict traces back to July 28, when FIFA unveiled a proposal to create a subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE, that would hold the organization’s commercial rights. The plan called for selling a substantial minority stake in FFE for $4.2 billion, implying a total valuation of roughly $20 billion for the entity. UEFA characterized this valuation as “absurdly low.”
UEFA’s 55 member associations reacted with something between outrage and disbelief. Multiple associations threatened to boycott FIFA events entirely if the plan moved forward. By August 1, just four days after it surfaced, FIFA withdrew the proposal.
