Report: UEFA prepares to file criminal complaint against Gianni Infantino
Media outlets around the world report that the body governing European football has filed separate requests in the US for information as part of a legal proceeding it intends to advance in Switzerland against the FIFA president due to his attempt to sell the rights to the World Cup.
The war between the world's top football bodies is escalating: UEFA is preparing to file a criminal complaint in Switzerland against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, on suspicion of "criminal mismanagement" related to the Fifa Forward Enterprise program, under which he planned to sell the rights to the World Cup to private individuals.
At the same time, the organization is acting in the US to obtain documents regarding how the program was born and developed. According to several reports in media outlets around the world, UEFA has filed separate requests in the US for information, including from FIFA, as part of a legal proceeding it intends to advance in Switzerland.
The documents filed state that UEFA and other parties "are preparing to file criminal complaints in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly also against other senior officials and advisors at FIFA," for the offense of "criminal mismanagement" under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code.
This is another dramatic escalation in the conflict between UEFA and FIFA, led by Infantino, as the European organization seeks to examine in depth the conduct surrounding the Fifa Forward Enterprise program and the circumstances that led to its failure. As part of the move, UEFA is using an American legal procedure known as "Section 1782," which allows a party involved in a legal proceeding taking place in a foreign country to ask a court in the US to order the production of documents and information from an entity or person located in the US.
