Fifa accuses European football chiefs of 'harassment' against Gianni Infantino
It comes after the European footballing organisation threatened to boycott the tournament, alongside two other continental confederations.
Fifa has accused European football chiefs of 'harassment' targeting head Gianni Infantino, accusing them of a ‘misinformation campaign’ linked to collapsed World Cup buyout plans.
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Fifa launched the extraordinary attack on Uefa, Europe's footballing association, with a filing in the American courts stating it would have been a “dereliction of duty” if Infantino had not explored the Fifa's World Clup buyout proposal.
Plans for Fifa Forward Enterprise (Ffe), the Kushner-led enterprise involved in the investment, to invest in global tournaments were ultimately abandoned after the plan was rejected by Uefa.
The European organisation threatened to boycott the tournament, alongside two other continental confederations.
The filing was made in the District Court of South Florida, where Fifa is opposing a motion by Uefa for the disclosure of documents related to Ffe.
The claim rejects any suggestion that Infantino stood to gain personally from Ffe, adding that the proposal would have needed ratification from Fifa’s 211 member national associations as well as the Fifa Council.
Documents seen by the Press Association accuse Uefa of making the application “for the purposes of harassment, rather than out of any legitimate need for discovery. That alone is an independent basis for denial”.
Arguably the most damaging claim made by European football’s governing body in its original application for discovery is that Ffe was given a “fraudulently off-market” valuation of 20billion US dollars.
Fifa has now countered by saying Uefa has conflated equity value with enterprise value. It said the enterprise value was “more than twice” that of the equity value.
“Uefa would have learned all of this had it bothered to verify its assertions before publicly decrying the proposal or filing in federal court,” the Fifa filing said.
Uefa has stated it has lost confidence in Infantino despite the abandonment of Ffe, and that it is seeking to put up a credible alternative candidate to stand against him in next year’s presidential election.
Fifa’s filing questions the timing of UEFA’s legal application, noting that the deadline for candidates to be submitted is November 18.
“This court should reject any attempt to influence FIFA’s presidential election based on these grounds,” the filings state.
Uefa has been approached for comment.