FIFA accuses UEFA of 'smear campaign' as World Cup shares row escalates into legal battle

FIFA has accused UEFA of conducting a “smear campaign” against president Gianni Infantino, filing court documents in the United States that directly counter UEFA’s own legal push for evidence related to the collapsed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme.

The dispute centres on Infantino’s proposal to sell shares in future FIFA tournaments to private investors — a plan that drew fierce opposition from UEFA’s member nations, who threatened to boycott World Cups if it went ahead. Infantino eventually withdrew the proposal, but the fallout has since escalated into an open legal confrontation between the two governing bodies.

UEFA filed papers in the US requesting the release of documents and evidence from FIFA as part of what it described as preparation for a criminal file against Infantino. FIFA responded with its own court filings, arguing that UEFA’s case suffers from “legal deficiencies” and that the foreign criminal proceeding UEFA cites “does not exist” and is one UEFA “admittedly lacks the authority to initiate.”

“Rather than participate in that democratic process, UEFA issued a press release — the beginning of a weeks-long smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership,” FIFA wrote in its filing, according to court documents cited by BBC Sport.

In its own filing, UEFA characterised the FFE as “a vehicle for Infantino and a small circle to acquire a permanent stake and otherwise profit from FIFA’s most valuable assets.” UEFA is also seeking testimony from Joshua Kushner, a venture capitalist and son-in-law of Donald Trump who had been lined up as the lead investor in the scheme.

Kushner issued an apology over the weekend, acknowledging the venture had been misjudged. “While we stand behind the motivations of FFE, we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to,” he said. “Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved.”

FIFA maintained in its filings that the FFE was “only a proposal” and would not have proceeded without broad support from member associations. UEFA has since dropped its threat of a World Cup boycott, but the legal confrontation between the two bodies shows no sign of resolution.