Fifa has accused Uefa of using legal action in the US to influence next year’s presidential election and described the European governing body’s claims over Gianni Infantino’s abandoned World Cup investment plan as a “misinformation campaign”.
The accusation was made in a filing to a federal court in southern Florida, where Fifa is opposing Uefa’s request for access to documents and testimony from two Fifa-related companies. Uefa wants the material for a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland concerning the proposed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE).
Fifa said Uefa’s application contained “numerous false or misleading statements about Fifa and Infantino” and accused the organisation of bringing the case “for the purposes of harassment, rather than out of any legitimate need for discovery”.
The filing also links the dispute to the Fifa presidential election, in which Infantino is seeking another term. The deadline for nominations is 18 November.
“This court should reject any attempt to influence Fifa’s presidential election based on these grounds,” Fifa said.
Uefa has alleged that Infantino developed the FFE proposal with a small group of advisers and investors without following Fifa’s usual governance procedures. The European governing body says the Fifa council, continental confederations and member associations were not properly consulted.
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The proposal would have involved investors paying $4.2bn (£3.2bn) for a stake in FFE. Uefa claimed the deal valued the business at about $20bn and argued that the figure significantly undervalued Fifa’s commercial rights. It also questioned whether the proposed valuation had been tested through an open auction or by an independent valuer.
Fifa rejected that interpretation. Its filing said Uefa had confused the company’s equity value with its enterprise value.
“It is undisputed that FFE’s ‘initial equity valuation’ – meaning ‘the value that remains for the shareholders after any debts have been paid off’ – was $20bn,” Fifa said.
It added that documents given to Fifa’s member associations put the enterprise value at “well over $30bn”, arguing that it was more than twice the equity value.
Fifa also rejected Uefa’s suggestion that Infantino could have personally benefited from the proposed transaction.
“With no basis whatsoever, Uefa suggests that Mr Infantino sought to profit personally from the FFE proposal,” the filing said.
It argued that the plan would have required approval from Fifa’s 211 member associations and the Fifa council, with the new company subject to oversight from both.
“Uefa’s suggestions that Mr Infantino violated any law or ethical principle are categorically without merit,” Fifa said.
