UEFA has threatened to pursue legal action against FIFA following Gianni Infantino’s abandoned proposal to open up ownership stakes in the governing body’s major competitions to private investors.
The move comes as the English Football Association is also preparing to formally notify Infantino that it is withdrawing the support it had previously given to the proposal.
The investment plan had already drawn strong opposition from football authorities across Europe, North and Central America, and the Caribbean. UEFA and CONCACAF had earlier issued public statements criticising the initiative, while Wales on Monday became the first national association to openly withdraw its backing for Infantino’s bid to remain FIFA president.
Under the now-scrapped proposal, FIFA planned to establish a commercial subsidiary known as FIFA Forward Enterprise to manage its flagship competitions, including the FIFA World Cup.
The governing body intended to allow outside investors to purchase minority stakes in the new entity.
FIFA had said it would “invite third parties to make minority, non-controlling investments” in the newly created subsidiary.
According to The Telegraph, UEFA has formally warned FIFA of possible legal proceedings.
In a letter to Infantino, the European governing body said “it is actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints (together, the ‘proceedings’) arising out of and in connection with the FFE plan proposed by Fifa”.
UEFA also demanded that FIFA preserve all records connected to the proposal, stating it wants “immediate steps to identify, locate and preserve all documents and electronically stored information described in this notice that are in your or Fifa possession, custody or control.
“These obligations arise independently of any internal retention policy you or your organisation maintain and supersede any routine document destruction or deletion policies that would otherwise apply.”
Infantino had written to all 211 FIFA member associations, promising each up to $40 million (£30 million) in funding if they endorsed the proposal.
Associations were told they could receive an initial $20 million (£15 million) provided they backed the plan before the 19 September deadline.
American venture capital firm Thrive Eternal was expected to head the consortium of investors interested in FFE. The company was founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, who is the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
UEFA’s document preservation request extends to a wide range of communications linked to the investment proposal, including “email, instant messages (WhatsApp, Signal, Teams, Slack or any other platform), SMS, written correspondence and meeting notes”, as well as records involving “any Fifa officer, employee, committee member, consultant or agent, or any Fifa member association, confederation, broadcaster, sponsor, or financial institution”.
The European body also referenced the 19 September deadline in its request, saying it wants documents retained “relating to the payment structure for Fifa member associations, including the design, modelling, legal basis, approval and communications to member associations”.
