FIFA accuses UEFA of harassment, misinformation campaign against Infantino

FIFA has accused European football’s governing body UEFA of a “misinformation campaign” in its bid to access documents related to Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell off parts of the World Cup.

In FIFA’s response in a court case in Florida, it said UEFA’s attempt to force the world body to hand over the documents is designed to “influence” the FIFA presidential election scheduled for next year.

In the 26-page legal filing, FIFA said UEFA is acting “for purposes of harassment, rather than out of any legitimate need for discovery” in pursuing its case against world football’s governing body.

It also accused UEFA of acting “in bad faith”.

FIFA president Infantino caused uproar in July with proposals to create a commercial subsidiary to run its biggest events, such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.

The plan would have allowed private investors to acquire stakes in a company created under the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative. The backlash that followed led to the proposals being quickly shelved.

FIFA said in its court filing that UEFA makes “numerous false or misleading statements” about Infantino and the world governing body, including that he “sought to profit personally from the FFE proposal”.

FIFA’s court filing said UEFA’s application “fails on both the facts and the law”, and should therefore be denied.

UEFA said it had no comment to make when contacted by AFP.

FIFA’s vast reserves

UEFA has filed a request in Florida for permission to gather evidence for a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland, where both UEFA and FIFA are based.

European football’s governing body said last month that alongside “other interested parties” it was “preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement”.

UEFA, the federation that represents World Cup holders Spain and football powerhouses such as France, England and Germany, is leading the opposition to Infantino, calling openly for his removal.

FIFA confirmed this month that Infantino will stand again for president in the election next March, despite the backlash over his now-abandoned private investment plan.

Infantino sent a letter to FIFA’s 211 members this week indicating that a greater amount of money could be distributed to FIFA members from its vast cash reserves.

Earlier this month, UEFA urged FIFA to make $10 million available to each of its member associations — a total of $2.1 billion — “for investment in infrastructure and football development”.

In the letter seen by AFP, Infantino said he would support “the greatest level of additional funding that can responsibly be delivered”.

Infantino insisted in the letter that the abandoned proposal to sell off World Cup commercial rights had been intended to generate additional money for football.

“The recent commercial proposal, now withdrawn, was intended to enable FIFA to invest more in football,” Infantino wrote.

FIFA has an estimated $6 billion of unused cash reserves and UEFA argued that Infantino did not need to try to raise capital given how much money his organisation was already holding onto.

Infantino is not without friends — 2034 World Cup hosts Saudi Arabia came out in support last month, with African football’s governing body CAF and South America’s CONMEBOL also supportive.