Legal motions in American courts

World football governing body FIFA filed legal motions in the United States to block UEFA from obtaining internal documents for potential criminal proceedings in Switzerland. The dispute originates from FIFA's abandoned plan, known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which proposed selling a 20% stake in World Cup commercial rights to private investment firms. UEFA submitted discovery applications across three American states to secure records from US-based entities, including Thrive Capital, an investment firm run by Joshua Kushner. FIFA described the legal applications as public relations maneuvers designed to damage its administration.

FIFA characterized the legal filings as a coordinated public relations effort in its submission to the federal court in New York.

“While these applications are styled as legal pleadings with captions and docket numbers, they are little more than press releases in further support of UEFA's smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership.”

Procedural arguments and court deadlines

In filings submitted to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on 1 September 2026, FIFA (AMERICAS) Inc. and FWC2026 US, Inc. asked judges to defer consideration or grant FIFA until 30 September to file a formal opposition. This follows an action on 28 August in the Southern District of Florida, where the court granted FIFA permission on 31 August to submit its full opposition by 28 September. FIFA argued that UEFA bypassed Swiss courts without legal justification and has no legal standing because no criminal investigation is open in Switzerland. The world governing body also maintained that UEFA suffered no financial loss from the initiative.

Commercial rights and governance dispute

The commercial initiative involved transferring commercial rights for both the men's and women's World Cups into a private entity. UEFA strongly rejected the proposal, threatening to boycott the World Cup and arguing that the plan was developed without adequate consultation with FIFA's 211 member associations. FIFA withdrew the proposal on 31 July 2026 following opposition from regional bodies. In its legal filings, FIFA asserted that UEFA opposed the project to preserve European financial dominance over developing nations. FIFA stated that funding smaller federations would allow local leagues to retain talent rather than seeing players move to European clubs.

UEFA rejected internal assessments and demanded third-party scrutiny over how the commercial plan was formulated.

“FIFA cannot investigate itself and expect the football community to simply accept its conclusions.”

Political fallout for Infantino

The dispute has intensified political resistance to FIFA President Gianni Infantino ahead of the presidential election scheduled for March 2027. Three of the six continental confederations, including UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and CONCACAF, have called for Infantino to resign. Only the South American and African confederations continue to support his candidacy for a fourth term in office. Several national associations have also withdrawn their backing for Infantino following the collapse of the commercial plan. Regional governing bodies have also discussed holding a vote of no confidence against Infantino before the scheduled election.