FIFA accused European soccer body UEFA of a smear campaign in a court filing on Thursday concerning FIFA President Gianni Infantino's failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other competitions.Last week, UEFA filed requests for discovery of evidence connected to Infantino's proposal in three U.S. courts.Also read: FIFA scraps World Cup sell-off plan after resistance from members While these applications are styled as legal pleadings with captions and docket numbers, they are little more than press releases in further support of UEFA's smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership, FIFA said in a filing in U.S.
District Court in Colorado.FIFA's filing in Colorado on Thursday was a motion to intervene, asking that the discovery process be deferred or dropped.One of UEFA's discovery requests was filed in the Southern District of New York and seeks disclosure of documents from Josh Kushner and his investment firm Thrive Capital Management.
Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law.Thrive was involved in Infantino's FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity for $4.2 billion.
FIFA withdrew the proposal on Aug. 1, just days after it was made public, after intense pushback.Other court filings seeking discovery of evidence related to the World Cup sell-off were filed in Florida, where FIFA had its 2026 World Cup operational base, and in Colorado, against an adviser to Infantino, Greg Maffei, once the CEO of Liberty Media.Also read: Lionel Messi retires from international football: A look at his 21 years with ArgentinaIn a statement Monday to the outlet Axios, Kushner defended the proposal but said he did not anticipate the pushback.
