FIFA says UEFA court action is aimed at influencing Gianni Infantino election

FIFA has accused UEFA of running a “misinformation campaign” and attempting to influence the next presidential election after UEFA launched legal proceedings in the United States against FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

The election is due to take place on 18 March in Rabat, Morocco, with FIFA confirming that Infantino will seek re-election.

The dispute centres on a proposed $20bn plan to transfer FIFA’s commercial rights to a new subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE). The project has since been abandoned.

Last month, UEFA asked a US federal court for permission to obtain testimony and documents for a criminal case it intends to bring in Switzerland against Infantino. According to a legal filing seen by Reuters, investors were expected to pay $4.2bn for a stake in FFE, giving the company an estimated valuation of about $20bn.

UEFA alleged that the proposed structure significantly undervalued FIFA’s commercial rights. It also claimed the plan had not been subjected to a public auction or independent valuation, and that Infantino had developed it privately with a small group of advisers.

The European governing body further argued that the proposal bypassed FIFA’s usual governance procedures because it was not presented to the FIFA Council or the continental confederations.

FIFA strongly rejected those claims in its response to the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, opposing UEFA’s request for evidence.

Its filing, reported by Reuters, said UEFA’s submission contained “many false or misleading statements about FIFA and Mr Infantino”.

“There is no basis whatsoever for UEFA’s claim that Mr Infantino sought personal gain from the company proposal,” FIFA said.

“As explained, the proposal was subject to approval by both the member associations and the FIFA Council, and would have been overseen by both bodies.”

FIFA also challenged UEFA’s assessment of the proposed valuation, saying the European organisation had confused the value of the equity with the value of the company itself.

“There is no dispute that the initial equity valuation was $20bn, but the full value of the company was far in excess of $30bn, more than twice the equity value, and therefore much higher than the value UEFA considers fair,” it said.

FIFA added that UEFA’s allegations that Infantino had breached any law or ethical principle were “entirely without merit”.

The FFE project was finally abandoned in July after strong opposition from several continental confederations, including UEFA, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation. The objections focused on the lack of consultation and prompted calls for changes to FIFA’s governance.

Last week, Infantino attempted to address the dispute by writing to all 211 FIFA member associations and proposing an independent review of the organisation’s decision-making processes.

In its closing submission to the Florida court, FIFA questioned UEFA’s timing.

“Immediately before the FIFA election, UEFA filed this Application 1782 and three other applications to disseminate misleading information about Mr Infantino,” FIFA said.

“The court should reject any attempt to influence the FIFA presidential election on these grounds.”