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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Sports

UEFA launches criminal proceedings against FIFA and President Gianni Infantino

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • UEFA has opened criminal legal proceedings in Switzerland against FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino.
  • The action stems from a now-scrapped plan announced by Infantino to sell commercial rights to major FIFA competitions to private investors.
  • UEFA alleges the plan was developed secretly and announced without consultation with FIFA's governing bodies or member associations.

UEFA has initiated criminal legal proceedings against FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, in Switzerland. The action is related to a plan, now abandoned, to sell stakes in the commercial rights of the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors.

Documents obtained by BBC Sport reveal that UEFA applied for access to evidence and documents for use in proceedings against FIFA and Infantino. This legal move follows Infantino's announcement on July 28, 2026, detailing plans to place the commercial rights for the men's and women's World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new FIFA subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise.

On July 28, 2026, without consulting the FIFA Council, UEFA, or any of the other confederations, or any of the 211 FIFA member associations, Infantino, purportedly acting on behalf of FIFA, publicly announced a plan to place the commercial rights to the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup into a new subsidiary: FIFA Forward Enterprise.

— UEFA legal applicationDetailing the announcement of the plan to sell commercial rights without consultation.

According to the legal application, the proposal was announced without prior consultation with the FIFA Council, UEFA, other confederations, or any of FIFA's 211 member associations. The application states that Infantino "purportedly acting on behalf of FIFA, publicly announced a plan to place the commercial rights... into a new subsidiary: FIFA Forward Enterprise."

Furthermore, the application alleges that this announcement was the public unveiling of a plan that Infantino and a small group of associates had been developing in secret for over a year. Although the proposed investment structure has since been scrapped, UEFA's legal action could increase scrutiny on FIFA's governance and its management of commercial rights for major tournaments.

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.

— UEFA legal applicationAlleging the secret development of the commercial rights plan.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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