UEFA Threatens Legal Action Against FIFA Over Infantino’s Abandoned World Cup Investment Plan
By Isaac Denish
European football’s governing body, UEFA, has warned FIFA that it is considering legal action following the collapse of FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s controversial proposal to sell a stake in future FIFA World Cup revenues to private investors.
The proposal, which sought to raise $4.2 billion from investors, including a New York-based investment firm linked to Joshua Kushner, was withdrawn by Infantino on Saturday after facing widespread opposition from football stakeholders around the world.
According to a letter from New York law firm Dechert, acting on UEFA’s behalf, the European governing body is exploring legal, arbitration and regulatory options over the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project. The letter also instructed FIFA to preserve all relevant documents, emails and electronic communications that could serve as evidence in any future legal proceedings.
UEFA’s lawyers cautioned that the destruction, deletion or alteration of any relevant records could constitute the destruction of evidence if legal proceedings move forward.
The governing body had earlier convened its 55 member associations to discuss the proposal, with federations agreeing to boycott FIFA events and competitions while the investment plan remained under consideration.
In a separate statement issued on Saturday, UEFA declared that no option should be ruled out regarding Infantino’s future leadership, saying the FIFA president had lost the confidence of many stakeholders across world football.
The abandoned FFE proposal would have valued FIFA’s commercial operations at $20 billion and transferred control of its revenue-generating business, including World Cup commercial rights and tournament operations, to a separate entity. FIFA had offered each of its 211 member associations a one-time payment of $20 million if they approved the plan before a mid-September deadline.
The proposal has drawn criticism from several continental football bodies. Besides UEFA, both the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) publicly opposed the plan.
Despite the backlash, Infantino continues to enjoy strong backing from many African football associations. South America’s CONMEBOL has also maintained support as FIFA considers expanding the 2030 FIFA World Cup from 48 to 64 teams.
The controversy marks one of the biggest challenges to Infantino’s leadership since he became FIFA president in 2016. Before the proposal collapsed, he was widely expected to secure an unopposed fourth and final term in office, extending his presidency through 2031.
