Uefa Files Criminal Complaint Against Infantino Over Fifa Investment
Uefa has launched an extraordinary legal offensive against Gianni Infantino, preparing a criminal complaint in Switzerland over alleged “criminal mismanagement” linked to his abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise project.
The European governing body has gone to the courts in the United States, seeking access to documents and communications around the plan, which proposed selling a 20% stake in a bundle of Fifa competitions for $4.2bn.
A legal war breaks into the open
In filings made under the US legal mechanism known as a “section 1782” order, Uefa sets out that it and other unnamed parties are “preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and possible other Fifa officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code”.
Section 1782 allows parties involved in foreign legal proceedings to seek discovery from individuals or entities based in the US. Uefa is using that route to demand disclosure of documents from Fifa and others involved in the conception of the Forward Enterprise scheme.
The move marks a sharp escalation in the already fraught relationship between football’s two most powerful institutions, turning what had been a political and commercial stand-off into a looming criminal battle.
‘Absurdly low’ valuation under scrutiny
At the heart of Uefa’s challenge lies the valuation of Infantino’s proposed deal. Court documents highlight what they describe as an “absurdly low enterprise value of only approximately $20bn” implied by selling 20% of Fifa’s tournaments for $4.2bn.
The filing states that this figure was “neither the product of an open, competitive auction, nor tested by any independent valuer”, raising questions over how the price was reached and who stood to benefit.
The Forward Enterprise plan, which never reached fruition, would have seen an outside investor take a significant minority stake in future revenues from a portfolio of Fifa competitions. For Uefa and others, the concern is not just commercial. It is whether the scheme, and the way it was handled, crossed the line into criminal mismanagement under Swiss law.
Preservation orders and a widening circle
Earlier this month, Uefa’s lawyers wrote directly to Infantino and Fifa, ordering them to secure all relevant material. The letter demanded they “take immediate steps to identify, locate, and preserve all documents and electronically stored information described in this notice that are in your or Fifa’s possession, custody, or control”.
The instruction was not limited to the president’s office. Fourteen Fifa executives were specifically named and told to preserve all such materials in their possession. Emails, contracts, internal memos, drafts of proposals – anything that might shed light on how the deal was constructed and advanced is now in the legal spotlight.
Those preservation demands are now backed by the push in US courts to obtain discovery. If granted, Uefa could gain access to a trove of material held by individuals or companies on American soil who were involved in, or advising on, the project.
Fifa has been contacted for comment.
The stakes are obvious. If Uefa proceeds as indicated and Swiss prosecutors are formally asked to investigate, the battle over Infantino’s tenure will no longer be fought in meeting rooms and congress halls, but under the glare of a criminal court.
