UEFA has initiated criminal legal proceedings in Switzerland against FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, over a controversial plan to sell stakes in the commercial rights to the World Cup and other major FIFA competitions to private investors.
Documents seen by BBC Sport on Thursday showed that UEFA had applied for access to evidence and documents it considers relevant to the proceedings against FIFA and Infantino.
The legal action follows 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 UEFA’s application, the proposal was announced without prior consultation with the FIFA Council, UEFA, other continental confederations or FIFA’s 211 member associations.
The application alleged that the announcement represented the public disclosure of a plan that Infantino and a small group of associates had allegedly developed in secret for more than a year.
“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,” the document stated.
It further alleged that Infantino and his associates had been working privately on the proposal before it was publicly announced.
The proposed investment structure has since been abandoned, but UEFA’s legal move could increase scrutiny of FIFA’s governance and its management of the commercial rights to its flagship 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 shed light on the development and handling of the proposed commercial rights structure and support its case against FIFA and Infantino.
