European football's governing body is seeking evidence in U.S. courts as it weighs a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland against FIFA President Gianni Infantino over an abandoned plan to sell a multibillion-dollar stake in the governing body's commercial rights.
UEFA filed a 60-page application in a Manhattan federal court seeking testimony and documents related to FIFA Forward Enterprise, a proposed subsidiary that would have managed commercial rights connected to the men's and women's World Cups and the Club World Cup.
According to court filings cited by Reuters and ESPN, UEFA is considering criminal proceedings against Infantino and potentially other FIFA officials and advisers under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code, which covers alleged financial mismanagement.
The proposed transaction called for investors to pay about $4.2 billion for a 20% stake in FIFA Forward Enterprise, which UEFA argues substantially undervalued FIFA's commercial rights.
The European governing body alleges that Infantino and a small group of advisers and investors developed the proposal over more than a year without consulting FIFA's Council, the six continental confederations or FIFA's 211 member associations.
