UEFA has initiated criminal legal proceedings against FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, over a now-abandoned plan to sell stakes in the commercial rights to major FIFA competitions to private investors.
Documents seen by BBC Sport on Thursday showed that UEFA had applied for access to evidence and documents for use in legal proceedings in Switzerland against FIFA and Infantino.
The action followed Infantino’s announcement on July 28, 2026, of plans to transfer the commercial rights to the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup to a new FIFA subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise.
According to documents submitted by UEFA, the plan was announced without consultation with the FIFA Council, UEFA, other continental confederations or any of FIFA’s 211 member associations.
The application stated that Infantino, purportedly acting on behalf of FIFA, publicly unveiled the proposal without prior consultation with the organisation’s wider membership.
UEFA further alleged that the plan had been developed secretly by Infantino and a small group of associates for more than a year.
“That announcement by Infantino was the public unveiling of a plan that he and a small circle of co-conspirators had conceived and reportedly been developing in secret for more than a year,” the application said.
The proposed investment structure has since been scrapped, but UEFA’s legal action could increase scrutiny of FIFA’s governance and the management of the commercial rights to its major competitions.
The proceedings are being pursued in Switzerland, where FIFA is headquartered.
UEFA is seeking access to documents and other evidence that it believes could be relevant to its proceedings against FIFA and Infantino.