European football’s governing body UEFA is preparing a complaint accusing FIFA president Gianni Infantino of “criminal mismanagement” over his now shelved plan to bring private financing into the World Cup, according to a document seen by AFP.
The document is a request for permission to gather evidence for a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland, where both UEFA and world football’s governing body FIFA are based.
“More specifically, 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,” it continues.
UEFA, whose threat to boycott World Cups is widely seen as having been pivotal in Infantino’s humiliating climbdown just days after launching the proposal, laid out a long list of documents they wanted access to pertaining to the background of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan.
These include a meeting that was held at a hotel in New York City on the eve of the World Cup final last month and which several senior FIFA directors attended where they were, according to the New York Times, apprised of the plan.
According to the newspaper, of the five directors present, two refused to sign off on it — one of them was chief operating officer Kevin Lamour who has since left FIFA.
“Specifically, UEFA seeks documents and communications from FIFA Americas and from FWC2026 concerning…..the governance and internal approval process for the FFE proposal, including all materials presented to the FIFA Council, FIFA Congress, FIFA Bureau, or FIFA Management Board,” read the document.
“The July 18, 2026 meeting of FIFA officials at the Waldorf Astoria, and all analyses of the approval requirements under FIFA’s Statutes and governance 42 policies.”
If successful in gaining access to the documents, UEFA intends to lodge the complaint in Switzerland and said it had been assured that it met the requirements to be heard in a Swiss court.
“Swiss counsel has confirmed, on the factual record described in this application, that the proceeding is within reasonable contemplation for purposes of Swiss law,” it said.
It added: “On information and belief, Infantino’s actions described herein rise to the level of criminal mismanagement.”
AFP
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