FIFA ripped UEFA’s legal attacks against the global governing body in court, calling the legal process a “smear campaign” with a “fundamental defect.”
UEFA escalated its conflict with FIFA last week by initiating four legal cases in federal court in three different states seeking information about FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), the failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to outside investors. UEFA did not sue FIFA, but began a larger power play. The European confederation wants to subpoena those involved with FFE to get information it can then bring to Swiss authorities in hopes of eliciting criminal charges against FIFA president Gianni Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials.
In the new filings, FIFA pushes back on UEFA’s master plan to bring charges against Infantino, saying UEFA shouldn’t be allowed to initiate discovery “with such a speculative connection to any legal proceeding.”
UEFA’s case in Florida targets FIFA’s U.S. operations and 2026 World Cup business, the two in New York focus on proposed lead FFE investor Thrive Capital and its founder Josh Kushner as well as adviser J.P. Morgan, and the one in Colorado seeks information from FFE adviser Greg Maffei and his company, BANN Ventures.
