In the midst of the power struggle with Gianni Infantino, the European Football Union (Uefa) is massively increasing the pressure and is preparing a criminal complaint against the FIFA boss in connection with the now rejected investor plan. This emerges from a 60-page document that was first reported by British media on Thursday.
It says: UEFA and other interested parties are currently preparing “to initiate criminal proceedings in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement in accordance with Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code.”
In the letter to the US courts, UEFA requests the release of relevant documents from, among others, the world association and the investment company Thrive Capital, which played an important role in Infantino’s plan as the main investor. These will later be used as evidence in possible criminal proceedings in Switzerland.
UEFA’s boycott threat, on the other hand, is probably off the table
In the application, UEFA criticizes the “absurdly low” company value of around 20 billion US dollars. The plan was intended to give Infantino and a small circle “a permanent stake in FIFA’s most valuable assets and to otherwise enable them to profit from them – to the detriment of FIFA, its members and other actors within the football family,” it said.
The European association continues to demand Infantino’s withdrawal. UEFA discussed further steps on Thursday. The 55 national association bosses around DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and the executive committee around Hans-Joachim Watzke met around the draw for the Champions League in Monaco.
UEFA’s boycott threat, on the other hand, is probably off the table. The background is FIFA’s alleged promise that something comparable to Infantino’s investor plan will never come back to the table. After massive criticism, Infantino gave up his plan to sell shares in the world association’s tournaments to private investors, including those close to US President Donald Trump.