UEFA has initiated legal actions in U.S. federal courts to obtain documents supporting a planned criminal complaint in Switzerland against FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The legal escalation follows Infantino’s failed plan to sell a 20% stake in World Cup commercial rights to private investors, a proposal UEFA alleges involved criminal mismanagement.
U.S. Court Subpoenas Target FIFA and Thrive Capital
European soccer’s governing body filed requests in U.S. federal courts on Thursday to compel the production of records related to Infantino’s abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise plan. According to The Guardian, the legal filings use a section 1782 order in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. This mechanism allows an interested party in a foreign legal proceeding to request discovery from U.S.-based entities.
Uefa preparing to bring criminal claims against Gianni Infantino
The targets of the subpoenas include the investment firm Thrive Capital Management and its chief executive, Joshua Kushner, who was slated to be the lead investor in the project. Additional applications were filed in Florida, where UEFA seeks files from FIFA entities including FIFA Americas and FWC2026.
Europe’s soccer governing body is asking a U.S. federal court for permission to obtain testimony and documents from FIFA entities in Florida that it could use in a planned criminal complaint against FIFA President Gianni Infantino. In a court filing on Thursday, UEFA said it is preparing a criminal complaint in Swiss courts against Infantino over possible financial mismanagement related to his failed plan to sell future World Cup profits to private investors, including a company founded by Joshua Kushner. The now-abandoned plan sought to transfer commercial rights linked to men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise. UEFA said it filed request in the southern Florida district court for authorization of discovery in a foreign proceeding
against FIFA, which has offices in Miami’s Coral Gables neighborhood. The organization also said it filed documents in a Manhattan court requesting discovery of potential evidence from the New York investment fund Thrive Capital Management, founded by Kushner. Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law. Earlier this month, CBS News reported that Joshua Kushner and former Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger have agreed to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers franchise, with the fee reported at $12.5 billion by sources familiar with the deal.
Disputed Valuations and Allegations of Criminal Mismanagement
UEFA preparing criminal complaint against FIFA's Infantino, asks U.S
At the center of the dispute is the aborted proposal to transfer commercial rights for the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new subsidiary. Under terms announced by Infantino, investors stood to acquire a permanent financial interest in FIFA’s commercial arm for $4.2 billion. Legal documents filed by UEFA argue that this figure implied an enterprise value of approximately $20 billion, which the governing body characterized as neither the product of an open, competitive auction, nor tested by any independent valuer.
Uefa and other interested parties are preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other Fifa officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement.
Gianni Infantino: Uefa pursuing criminal legal proceedings against Fifa
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has initiated legal actions to open a criminal case against the International Football Federation (FIFA) and its president, Gianni Infantino, following a scandal related to an abandoned plan to sell shares from the World Cup. UEFA has requested access to confidential evidence to build its case in Switzerland, accusing Infantino of orchestrating a financial scheme intended to enrich a small group of investors, while simultaneously harming world football. Documents submitted to the court claim that the plan was hastily approved, without independent evaluations, and that the value of the sold rights was underestimated. UEFA emphasizes that the 55 member nations have suffered and does not rule out extending criminal complaints against other FIFA officials. The project was announced by Infantino on July 28, 2026, without prior consultation with the competent authorities.
Political Fallout and Shelved Boycotts in European Soccer
UEFA is contemplating initiating criminal proceedings against FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a bold move aimed at removing him from office. The controversy following Infantino’s unsuccessful bid to sell stakes in FIFA competitions to outside investors has subsided in recent weeks, but legal filings submitted in the United States reveal that UEFA has now escalated their campaign to remove Infantino. UEFA is issuing subpoenas to FIFA and the financial institutions implicated in the botched scheme in a bid to secure documents, intending then to pursue legal action in Switzerland at FIFA’s headquarters.
UEFA and other interested parties are preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code and such further or alternative charges as the developed factual record may support, arising out of the 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. According
UEFA is considering bringing criminal proceedings against FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Switzerland over his plan to sell shares in the World Cup to private investors. European football’s governing body took legal action in US courts against FIFA, Infantino, and the anticipated lead investor in the World Cup sell-off plan, Thrive Capital. In a 56-page document filed in the Southern District of New York, UEFA said that the venture was a vehicle for Infantino and a small circle to acquire a permanent stake and otherwise profit from FIFA’s most valuable assets to the detriment of FIFA, its members, and other parties within the football family. The filing in New York came after reports that it has now received guarantees there will be no repeat of FIFA’s controversial private investor plan, which was the second condition UEFA wanted to be met for European teams.
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