Fifa has accused Uefa of running a ‘smear campaign against Fifa and its leadership’ over the collapsed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors, filing a court response in the United States that pushes back against European football’s governing body on multiple fronts.
The Fifa Uefa smear campaign dispute escalated sharply after Uefa lodged legal papers in the US last week seeking disclosure of evidence and documents from Fifa, citing potential criminal claims in Switzerland. Uefa alleged that Fifa president Gianni Infantino had committed ‘criminal mismanagement’ and promoted a ‘fraudulently off-market price’ for his ‘own benefit’ through the now-shelved Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme.
Fifa court filing rejects Uefa smear campaign allegations
Fifa’s counter-filing, lodged in the US and seen by the BBC, asks a court to ‘oppose’ Uefa’s application by the end of the month. Fifa argued that FFE was ‘only a proposal’ and could only have proceeded with the backing of a majority of member associations and ‘the relevant approvals of the Fifa Council’.
‘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 the filing.
Fifa also challenged what it described as Uefa’s ‘economic motivation’, arguing the European body sought to prevent smaller countries from acquiring the ‘financial strength to compete with the European elite’. ‘If soccer is strengthened in the developing world, global competition increases, which ultimately reduces Uefa’s market power and provides more competition for its flagship tournaments,’ Fifa said.
The filing argued further that FFE would have encouraged players from smaller nations to represent their countries of origin and compete in their domestic leagues rather than moving abroad.
Funding figures at the heart of the dispute
The financial scale of what Fifa says was at stake adds weight to the argument it is making. According to BBC Sport, Fifa said the funding distributed to each national association for the 2027-2030 cycle would have increased from £5.9m to £14.7m under the FFE plan. That near-tripling of development money was central to Fifa’s case that the scheme served the broader membership, not private interests.
The venture behind FFE involved Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who was set to be the lead investor through his company Thrive Eternal. Thrive had held talks with Infantino about heading up a $4.2bn (£3.1bn) investment in 20% of a new Fifa commercial subsidiary. The idea was abandoned days after it came to light in July, following a substantial backlash from across the football world.
Uefa has separately asked a court in New York to approve a legal document ordering testimony and documents from Kushner and Thrive Eternal. Uefa has been approached for comment on Fifa’s latest filing.
Infantino is facing calls to stand down from three confederations, with Uefa leading the rebellion against the Fifa president. The legal contest between the two governing bodies is now playing out across courts on both sides of the Atlantic, with Fifa’s deadline to oppose Uefa’s application set for the end of the month.
