UEFA Pursues Criminal Case Against Infantino Over FIFA Asset Sale

UEFA is pursuing criminal legal proceedings against FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, over a now-scrapped plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors.

Documents seen by BBC Sport show that UEFA has applied for access to evidence and documents that it intends to use in potential criminal proceedings in Switzerland against FIFA and Infantino.

In the application, UEFA alleges that Infantino engineered the plan to enrich himself and potential private investors.

“In truth, it was a vehicle for Infantino and that small circle to acquire a permanent stake in and otherwise profit from FIFA’s most valuable assets to the detriment of FIFA, its members, and other parties within the football family,” UEFA said.

UEFA further alleged that Infantino pushed the proposal through FIFA’s internal approval process after a hastily convened meeting at which some officials and employees had only hours to consider the multi-billion-dollar plan.

The European football governing body also claims that the proposed valuation of the assets was not independently verified and that the stakes would have been sold at an undervalued price.

“Under the terms Infantino announced, those investors stood to acquire a permanent financial interest in FIFA’s commercial arm for $4.2bn, implying an absurdly low enterprise value of only approximately $20bn, a figure that was neither the product of an open, competitive auction, nor tested by any independent valuer,” the application stated.

UEFA has applied to a court in Florida, where businesses operated by FIFA in connection with the 2026 World Cup are based, seeking access to files that could later be used in criminal proceedings in Switzerland.

The organisation said its 55 member associations could have been harmed by the proposed sell-off and indicated that other FIFA officials could also face legal action.

“UEFA and other interested parties are preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement,” the application stated.

UEFA alleged that the “secretive structuring, valuation, financing, and marketing” of the proposed deal caused direct harm to FIFA’s reputation, governance and commercial relationships.

It said the damage could have affected FIFA and its 211 member associations, including UEFA’s 55 members.

According to UEFA, the plan was developed without its knowledge or that of other major stakeholders in world football.

It alleged that the proposal had been under development for more than a year before it was publicly announced.

“On July 28, 2026, without consulting the FIFA Council, UEFA, or any of the other confederations, or any of the 211 FIFA member associations, Infantino, purportedly acting on behalf of FIFA, publicly announced a plan to place the commercial rights to the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new subsidiary: FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE),” the application stated.

UEFA described the announcement as the public unveiling of a plan it claimed Infantino and a small group had been developing secretly for more than a year.

The proposed sell-off has since been scrapped following widespread opposition, with UEFA among those leading the backlash against the plan.