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The war between FIFA and UEFA is heading to court.
The European soccer governing body took legal action in three states on Thursday against FIFA, its president Gianni Infantino, and others involved in the short-lived plan to sell minority stakes in the World Cup.
UEFA is not outright suing FIFA. Instead, the European soccer body is seeking information through the discovery process from FIFA, Infantino, Thrive Capital, and former Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei—information it could then take to Swiss authorities with the goal of bringing criminal charges against Infantino and potentially other FIFA officials.
Europe has been the loudest adversary to FIFA in the fallout from Infantino’s failed FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal. UEFA first condemned the plan before FIFA had officially announced it, and threatened to boycott all FIFA tournaments while the plan was still alive. The idea was called off on July 31, but Europe kept the pressure on Infantino.
Individual member associations have withdrawn their support for the Swiss leader in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections, and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin published a joint letter with soccer leaders from North America and Asia blasting him for “deception.”
On Thursday morning, UEFA is filing in the Southern District of New York, Southern District of Florida, and the District of Colorado documents called re ex parte applications, copies of which have been obtained by Front Office Sports. UEFA is taking a three-pronged approach because FIFA has a U.S. office in Miami, Thrive Capital is based in New York, and Maffei is based in Colorado.
Each of the documents say that “UEFA and other interested parties are preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement … arising out of the secretive structuring, valuation, financing, and marketing” of FIFA Forward Enterprise. The filings make clear that Kushner and Maffei’s firm, Bann, are not anticipated defendants in an eventual Swiss criminal case.
It doesn’t consider Kushner and Bann blameless, however, calling FFE 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.”
UEFA says in the filings that it seeks documents about the formation of FFE, communications between stakeholders, the pitch deck given to investors, valuation models, and other materials. The European body wants to understand how FIFA reached what it calls an “absurdly low enterprise value of only approximately $20 [billion].”
The filings also include a wider condemnation of Infantino’s FIFA, including his relationship with President Donald Trump, his reported use of FIFA funds for personal items, and his ability to run for a fourth term as FIFA president after saying his first three years after taking over from Sepp Blatter didn’t count toward term limits.
On Wednesday, several outlets reported UEFA would drop its boycott of all FIFA tournaments ahead of the upcoming Women’s U-20 World Cup, a move that was welcomed in a statement by FIFA.
UEFA had originally threatened the boycott in the days after the FFE proposal, and continued the threat weeks after the idea was called off, claiming that it had not received guarantees that FIFA wouldn’t try a similar stunt in the future.
Thrive Capital is a venture capital firm founded by Josh Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Its subsidiary Thrive Eternal—which owns a stake in the San Francisco Giants—was set to be the company invested in FIFA. Infantino’s plan for a $20 billion FIFA Forward Enterprise would include $4.2 billion from outside investors, with Thrive Eternal as the lead and only listed investor. In the filing, UEFA claims the $4.2 billion figure is a “fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit.”
Earlier this month, Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger announced a deal to buy the majority of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Maffei was described by FIFA in its press release announcing FFE as “a key commercial adviser” who would “remain involved in the establishment of FFE in this next phase.” Maffei had a similar business structure with Liberty Media and Formula 1, and according to the Financial Times, Kushner brought the idea to Maffei last summer.
J.P. Morgan, which was also involved in the proposal, is not named in the legal filings.
FIFA, Thrive Capital, and Maffei did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ben Horney contributed reporting.
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