The $20 billion war reaches Morocco: FIFA responds to UEFA's lawsuit against Infantino
Bone-crushing
The cold war between the two biggest football institutions in the world has erupted into a public legal battle. FIFA have accused their European counterpart of waging an organised "misinformation campaign" and trying to sway the FIFA presidential election, after UEFA filed a lawsuit against Gianni Infantino in an American court.
Rabat, Morocco, will host the next FIFA presidential election on 18 March, with FIFA confirming that current president Gianni Infantino will stand for re-election.
The $20 billion plan that triggered the crisis
The roots of the crisis trace back to last month. UEFA asked an American federal court for permission to obtain testimonies and documents for use in a criminal case they intend to file in Switzerland against Infantino.
At the heart of it lies a secret plan, now abandoned, to transfer the commercial rights of the World Cup to a new subsidiary called "FIFA Forward Enterprise" (FFE).
According to the legal filing seen by Reuters, investors were to pay $4.2 billion for a stake in the company, valuing it at around $20 billion.
UEFA claimed the valuation significantly undervalued FIFA's commercial rights, with no public auction or independent valuation involved. They accused Infantino of drawing up the proposal in secret with a small group of advisers, bypassing the usual governance procedures without consulting the FIFA Council or the continental confederations.
FIFA's strong response: false accusations and no personal gain
FIFA hit back hard in a filing before the Southern District Court of Florida, opposing the request to disclose evidence. According to Reuters, they said UEFA's memorandum contained "numerous false or misleading statements about FIFA and Infantino".
Their filing read: "There is no basis whatsoever, as UEFA claims that Mr Infantino sought to achieve personal gain from the company proposal. As explained, the proposal was subject to the approval of both the member associations and the FIFA Council, and would have been subject to the oversight of both bodies."
In defence of the financial valuation, FIFA added: "UEFA, whether intentionally or unintentionally, conflates the value of the equity rights with the value of the company. There is no dispute that the initial valuation of the equity rights amounted to $20 billion, but the full value of the company far exceeded $30 billion, that is, double the value of the equity rights, and it is therefore much higher than the value UEFA considers fair."
Any claim that Infantino broke the law or breached ethical principles, FIFA insisted, has "no basis in truth whatsoever".
An aborted project and suspicious timing
The documents revealed that FIFA scrapped the FFE project for good last July. Strong opposition from the continental confederations killed it off, with UEFA, North America's CONCACAF and the Asian confederation all objecting to the lack of consultation, a rift that sparked demands for reform of FIFA's governance.
Last week, Infantino moved quickly to contain the crisis. He wrote to all 211 member associations, proposing an independent review of decision-making processes.
With the Swiss official contesting his re-election in March, FIFA lay out their most serious accusation.
They concluded their memorandum to the American court: "Just before the FIFA election, UEFA submitted this request number 1782 and three other requests, spreading misleading information about Mr Infantino. This court should reject any attempt to influence the FIFA presidential election based on these grounds."
