FIFA has accused UEFA of mounting a “smear campaign” against the world governing body and its president, Gianni Infantino, after UEFA threatened to pursue “criminal proceedings” against him, according to The Athletic.
The dispute centres on a failed proposal known as the FFE project, which would have involved the sale of a 20% stake in FIFA’s commercial and organisational operations for $4.2bn (£3.1bn).
In a legal document filed in the United States on 28 August, UEFA alleged that Infantino had been “fraudulently promoting” an “off-market price for his personal benefit” when he suggested the valuation.
UEFA has requested access to documents as it considers whether to begin “criminal proceedings” against Infantino in Switzerland over the unsuccessful plan. Its lawyers argued that the $4.2bn valuation was “absurdly low” and had not been reached through an “open and competitive auction”.
FIFA has responded by filing a motion to intervene, asking that access to the documents be delayed or that UEFA’s request be rejected entirely.
In a submission filed in New York on Tuesday, FIFA said: “Although styled as legal filings with captions and docket numbers, these requests are nothing more than press releases, supporting UEFA’s smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership.”
The governing body added: “This is apparent from UEFA’s decision to alert the media before filing these requests, from the many paragraphs in the requests that rely solely on press reports many of which quote UEFA and from the fundamental defect in UEFA’s request: it seeks discovery to support a non-existent foreign criminal proceeding, and UEFA itself admits that it lacks the authority to bring one.”
FIFA also alleged that UEFA deliberately obstructed the FFE project, including by threatening to boycott all European national teams in future FIFA competitions unless the proposal was withdrawn. FIFA said the threat was intended to prevent the project from getting under way.
“Rather than participate in that democratic process, UEFA issued a press release, beginning a weeks-long smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership,” the filing said.
According to FIFA, UEFA’s “economic motivation” for opposing FFE was to stop smaller countries from gaining the financial power needed to compete with Europe’s elite.
“If football in the developing world is strengthened, global competition will increase, ultimately reducing UEFA’s market power and providing more competition for its major tournaments,” the filing said.
It added: “By raising money to allow some of FIFA’s smaller member associations to develop football more effectively, FFE would have resulted in more players from those countries being selected to represent their home nations and playing in their domestic leagues, rather than playing abroad. All of this would have weakened UEFA’s dominance over other regions of the world.”
FIFA also rejected UEFA’s assertion that it could bring a criminal case against Infantino in Switzerland.
Infantino is not the only individual or organisation involved in UEFA’s document request. Matching legal filings were submitted against Thrive, Joshua Kushner and JPMorgan in New York, as well as Pan Ventures and its chief executive Greg Maffei in Colorado.
JPMorgan and Pan Ventures had been expected to work with FIFA on the FFE project. FIFA named both organisations in a statement issued on 28 July announcing the plans.
Kushner issued a statement on Monday in response to UEFA’s request for documents, in his first public comments since the fallout from the FFE proposal. He said Thrive had “underestimated the political dynamics of global football” and added: “We would not have been drawn into the plan” had we known “what it would become”.
The source report also included references to separate claims that FIFA had spent millions of dollars protecting Infantino’s reputation, and that he had received gifts from Vladimir Putin and used FIFA for personal purposes.
