FIFA has responded to UEFA’s legal action by accusing the European body of launching a “smear campaign” targeting Gianni Infantino.
UEFA had previously filed legal proceedings in a United States court to obtain evidence linked to the controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project, and warned it was considering opening criminal proceedings against Gianni Infantino in Switzerland, where FIFA is headquartered.
FIFA has now submitted its response to a New‑York‑based court, stating: “Although these applications bear the trappings of legal pleadings, with docket titles and numbers, they amount to little more than press releases intended to further support UEFA’s smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership.”
UEFA is attempting to force Mr. Infantino to resign or drive him out of office in the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March. FIFA’s lawyers stated: “UEFA’s applications suffer from fundamental defects: UEFA seeks evidence to assist a non‑existent foreign criminal proceeding, and UEFA itself admits it lacks authority to initiate such proceedings.”
The filing also defends the push to launch the $20‑billion‑valued World‑Cup‑linked subsidiary. Upon stepping down, Carlos Cordeiro, a senior adviser to Mr. Infantino, issued a statement to Sky News describing the project as “a bad deal for football.”
Sky News previously disclosed that plans were drawn up back in June to receive up to $4.2 billion (£3.1 billion) from private investors starting in October. Nevertheless, FIFA’s legal filing maintains that this “was merely a proposal” still subject to approval by member associations and the FIFA Council.
FIFA claims UEFA is acting out of self‑interest to protect its own competitions, and argues all disputes ought to be settled within football’s internal structures rather than through courts of law. The document filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York reads: “Instead of taking part in this democratic process, UEFA issued a press release — the opening salvo in a weeks‑long smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership.”
“UEFA’s economic motive is to stop smaller nations from acquiring the financial strength to compete against Europe’s elite.”
“If football is strengthened in developing nations, global competition will intensify. This will ultimately erode UEFA’s market power and bring greater competition to its flagship competitions.”
“By raising funds to enable some of FIFA’s smaller member associations to develop football more effectively, the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) subsidiary will allow more players from those nations to choose to represent their home countries and play in their domestic leagues instead of moving abroad.”
FIFA’s filing does not directly address UEFA’s criticisms directed at Mr. Infantino, nor does it reference other continental football confederations from Asia and North America, which jointly condemned the initiative as a “fundamental breach of trust.”
