Europe's soccer governing body, UEFA, has turned to the United States legal system to build a criminal case against FIFA President Gianni Infantino. In court documents filed on August 27, 2026, at 12:55 PM EDT, UEFA is requesting permission from a U.S. federal court to gather testimony and documents from FIFA entities located in Florida, which it intends to use in a planned criminal complaint against the embattled soccer chief.
The legal maneuver targets a now-scrapped proposal to transfer the lucrative commercial rights of the men's and women's World Cups, alongside the Club World Cup, into a newly formed subsidiary named FIFA Forward Enterprise. Under the contemplated arrangement, New York-based investment fund Thrive Capital Management, founded by Kushner, was positioned as the anchor investor. Thrive was set to pay $4.2 billion to acquire a 20% stake in the subsidiary responsible for running FIFA's premier commercial events.
According to court filings, UEFA has asked the Southern District Court of Florida for authorization to conduct discovery "in a foreign proceeding" against FIFA, which maintains offices in the Coral Gables neighborhood of Miami. Additionally, UEFA submitted documents to a Manhattan court seeking to obtain potential evidence from Thrive Capital Management. UEFA's legal team revealed in a 56-page document that they are planning to initiate a Swiss criminal proceeding against Infantino and potentially other FIFA officials, alleging criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code.
UEFA's lawyers argued in the court documents that the $4.2 billion valuation was a "fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit." They asserted that the deal implied an "absurdly low enterprise value of only approximately $20 billion," pointing out that this figure was not determined through an open, competitive auction, nor was it evaluated by any independent valuer. While Infantino publicly defended the initiative by claiming it would "unleash the commercial potential and opportunity that FIFA has," UEFA's legal team countered that it was actually "a vehicle for Infantino and that small circle to acquire a permanent stake in and otherwise profit from FIFA's most valuable assets to the detriment of FIFA, its members, and other parties within the football family."
The controversial commercial plan was officially abandoned on August 1. Its collapse followed the resignation of Infantino's senior adviser, who had been serving on a White House panel, and mounting opposition from the Asian Football Confederation alongside European and North American soccer bodies. The deal had already drawn intense scrutiny due to Infantino's close relationship with Donald Trump during the summer's World Cup, which was jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
As of yet, spokespersons representing both FIFA and Thrive Capital Management have not issued any comments in response to inquiries regarding the legal filings.
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