UEFA seeks Florida court evidence in FIFA dispute

UEFA has taken its dispute with FIFA president Gianni Infantino to a federal court in Florida, seeking documents and testimony from FIFA’s American subsidiaries. The move could support a possible criminal complaint in Switzerland over alleged mismanagement by Infantino and potentially other FIFA officials.

The application, filed on 27 August under UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, focuses on the FIFA Forward Enterprise project. Unveiled at the end of July, the plan proposed moving the commercial rights to several major FIFA competitions into a new company and selling about 20% of that entity to private investors for $4.2 billion.

The project was developed by a small group and faced broad opposition across football. UEFA, backed in the dispute by CONCACAF and the Asian confederation, had threatened to boycott FIFA competitions. Infantino withdrew the plan on 1 August and apologised, but UEFA now wants to determine whether FIFA officials failed in their duties or caused possible harm to the organisation.

The Florida proceedings may also allow UEFA to question executives at FIFA’s American subsidiaries. That legal step adds a new dimension to the confrontation between European football’s governing body and Infantino after the collapse of the proposed commercial structure.