FIFA accuses UEFA of harassment in court fight over Infantino investment plan

FIFA has asked a US court to reject UEFA’s request for evidence about an abandoned World Cup investment proposal, accusing the European football body of harassment and of trying to influence its presidential election. The filing puts opposing accounts of the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise venture before the court as president Gianni Infantino seeks re-election in March.

In its response filed on Monday, September 28, FIFA said UEFA’s application contained ‘numerous false or misleading statements’ about the governing body and Infantino, according to Reuters. FIFA’s lawyers said UEFA had acted in bad faith and ‘for the purpose of harassment’, a passage also reported by Sky News. Those are FIFA’s allegations; the available reporting does not establish that a court has accepted them.

What UEFA asked the court to provide

UEFA applied to a federal court in Florida for permission to obtain testimony and documents from FIFA (Americas) Inc. and FWC2026 US Inc., two Florida-based FIFA entities. Reuters reported that UEFA wants the material for a planned criminal complaint in Switzerland concerning Infantino and the proposed transfer of World Cup commercial rights into FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE. Seeking evidence in the US is a step toward that planned complaint, rather than a finding on its allegations.

UEFA alleged that Infantino developed the proposal with a small group of advisers and investors, bypassing normal governance processes and failing to consult FIFA’s council, regional confederations or member associations. FIFA disputes that account. It said the FFE plan required approval by its member associations and council, and that both groups would have overseen the venture.

The disputed valuation

The two bodies also disagree over how to describe the proposed investment. According to Reuters, UEFA’s filing said investors would have paid $4.2 billion for a stake in FFE, valuing the business at about $20 billion. UEFA alleged that the proposal undervalued FIFA’s commercial rights and had undergone neither an open auction nor an independent valuation.

FIFA countered that UEFA had confused equity value with enterprise value. FIFA said $20 billion was FFE’s proposed initial equity value, while materials distributed to member associations put its total enterprise value above $30 billion. Those are FIFA’s descriptions of the proposed transaction, not an independently established valuation. The court request concerns access to evidence; the available reporting does not establish a ruling on the competing financial claims.

A wider dispute over FIFA’s direction

The FFE proposal was abandoned in July after opposition from confederations including UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation, The Guardian reported. Their objections included concerns about consultation and governance. The latest filing extends that dispute into a US court process while FIFA’s leadership and member associations consider what should follow the failed proposal.

In September, UEFA and Concacaf leaders proposed a one-off payment of at least $10 million to each of FIFA’s 211 member associations during the 2027–30 cycle. They argued that FIFA’s reserves could provide more development funding without selling interests in its competitions. That proposal is a separate response to the funding question raised by FFE; it is not a decision by FIFA to make the payments.

Infantino has proposed an independent external review of FIFA’s governance framework, The Guardian reported on September 21. Its terms and scope were still unresolved in that report, and the matter was due for discussion at a FIFA Council meeting scheduled for October 15. Those decisions may clarify how FIFA intends to examine the processes behind FFE, regardless of the separate discovery request.

What remains open

FIFA’s filing also accused UEFA of trying to affect the presidential election by spreading misinformation shortly before Infantino’s re-election bid. Sky News reported that UEFA had withdrawn its support for him but had not proposed a rival candidate ahead of the November deadline. The accusation of election interference remains FIFA’s position, rather than an established motive for UEFA’s court application.