UEFA to bring criminal claims against Gianni Infantino after World Cup debacle
UEFA is gearing up to file criminal proceedings in Switzerland against FIFA President Gianni Infantino, accusing him of criminal mismanagement in relation to his controversial bid to sell World Cup shares to private investors.
The European football governing body intends to pursue charges under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code, according to legal filings that have come to light.
Switzerland was chosen as the jurisdiction for the planned action owing to FIFA’s headquarters being situated there.
The move represents a dramatic escalation in the bitter dispute between the two organisations, with UEFA now seeking to go well beyond its existing efforts to remove Mr Infantino from his position over the failed World Cup privatisation venture, known as the FIFA Forward Enterprise plan.
UEFA intend to pursue charges against Gianni Infantino under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code
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To gather the evidence needed for its Swiss criminal complaint, UEFA has turned to American courts, deploying a legal tool known as a Section 1782 order.
This mechanism permits parties involved in foreign legal proceedings to compel the disclosure of documents held by US-based entities.
UEFA filed an application in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, targeting both JP Morgan Bank and Thrive Capital, the venture’s intended lead investor. Thrive Capital is headed by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Separately, UEFA is pursuing FIFA itself through the courts in Miami, where the world governing body’s legal operations are headquartered.
Gianni Infantino remains under immense pressure in his role as FIFA president | PA
The subpoenas represent a concerted transatlantic effort to obtain records connected to the scheme’s development.
According to legal documents seen by Sky News, UEFA alleges that Infantino and his associates engaged in “secretive structuring, valuation, financing, and marketing of a transaction that inflicted direct and concrete injury on FIFA’s reputation, governance authority, and commercial relationships to the detriment of FIFA as well as its 211 members, including UEFA’s 55 member associations.”
The filing paints a picture of a scheme conducted with minimal transparency, causing harm not merely to FIFA as an institution but to every one of its constituent national associations worldwide.
The legal papers further characterise the venture in stark terms. UEFA states in the documents that “it was a vehicle for Infantino and that small circle to acquire a permanent stake in and otherwise profit from FIFA’s most valuable assets to the detriment of FIFA, its members, and other parties within the football family.”
Gianni Infantino has been widely criticised across the globe following his unsuccessful World Cup plot | GETTY
UEFA’s strategy marks a deliberate shift from internal football politics to the criminal justice system.
Rather than confining its opposition to boardroom manoeuvres aimed at deposing Mr Infantino, the European body is now pursuing formal legal accountability.
The criminal complaint, should it proceed, would allege that the FIFA president and a tight-knit group of advisors sought to personally benefit from the organisation’s crown jewel — the World Cup — at the direct expense of the global football community.
The failed FIFA Forward Enterprise plan has become the focal point of an increasingly acrimonious confrontation between the sport’s two most powerful governing bodies. Other FIFA officials and external advisors may also face charges, the legal filings indicate, as the factual record develops further.
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