Uefa’s lawyers have drawn up a 60-page document laying the groundwork for Swiss criminal proceedings against Fifa president Gianni Infantino, alleging criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code over the abandoned plan to sell a 20% stake in Fifa’s commercial arm for $4.2bn.
The document, seen by multiple outlets on Thursday, argues that the $4.2bn valuation attached to a minority holding in the newly created FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) was a “fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit” — a stake priced without competitive auction, independent valuation or approval from Fifa’s own governance structures.
It marks the sharpest escalation yet in a dispute that has consumed world football’s governing body for a month, and moves Uefa from the language of protest to the language of prosecution.
Article 158 and the paper trail
Article 158 covers criminal mismanagement — the offence of a person entrusted with managing another’s assets causing financial loss through breach of duty. Conviction carries a custodial sentence of up to five years where the accused acted for personal gain. Uefa’s counsel are weighing a filing in Bern or Zurich, and the document contemplates proceedings not only against Infantino but potentially against other Fifa officials involved in structuring FFE.
Running alongside the Swiss track is a discovery effort in the United States. A filing lodged in Manhattan seeks documents and communications relating to the sell-off, and financier Greg Maffei, chief executive of BANN Ventures, has been served at his base in Denver, Colorado. All parties have been ordered to preserve and produce material connected to the FFE plan — a demand that echoes Uefa’s warning on 3 August that no potential evidence should be destroyed.
Fifa has not commented on the prospect of criminal proceedings. Infantino has consistently framed the plan as an attempt to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity that Fifa has”, and dropped it on 1 August without conceding any procedural fault.
Six days that broke the deal
The proposal collapsed with extraordinary speed once it surfaced publicly. FFE was to control Fifa’s commercial and event operations, with Thrive Eternal — an investment vehicle of Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital — leading an investor group at an implied enterprise value of roughly $20bn. Each of Fifa’s 211 member associations was offered $20m, with a deadline of 19 September to accept.
- 29 July: Details of the Kushner-backed plan and the $20m-per-member offer become public.
- 31 July: Uefa’s 55 member associations vote unanimously to reject the plan and threaten a boycott of all Fifa competitions, including the World Cup.
- 1 August: Infantino abandons the sell-off, less than a week after it emerged.
- 3 August: Uefa threatens formal legal action and demands evidence preservation.
- 27 August: The 60-page criminal mismanagement document is revealed.
Uefa’s rejection statement set the tone: “Some things are simply too important to sell. The Fifa World Cup belongs to football.” It described the absence of meaningful consultation as “a profound failure of leadership”.
Concacaf’s 41 members objected to “the lack of due process surrounding the proposal, the artificially short deadline imposed, and the absence of any review or approval”. The Asian Football Confederation called for an urgent review of Fifa’s governance and aligned itself with Europe and Concacaf. Three of the six confederations — covering the hosts and most of the leading contenders for the 2026 World Cup — had turned on the president within 72 hours.
What comes next
Swiss criminal referrals against Fifa’s leadership are not new territory. Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were both charged after the 2015 investigations, and Infantino himself was the subject of Swiss criminal proceedings in 2020 over his undisclosed meetings with then-attorney general Michael Lauber. He was never convicted. What is new is the identity of the complainant: this time the pressure comes from inside the tent, from the confederation that supplies the bulk of Fifa’s commercial value.
Uefa vice-president Laura McAllister has said Infantino’s leadership has reached a crisis point, citing “a lot of unrest about the unilateral nature of the intervention around FFE”. Crisis talks convened in Morocco have already touched on the question of whether the president can survive the cycle.
The timing matters. Fifa’s presidential election is scheduled for March 2027 in Rabat, and a live Swiss criminal file would shadow any campaign. Even without charges, the discovery process threatens to expose how a $4.2bn transaction reached the point of a signed deadline without a vote. For Infantino, the sell-off is dead; the paperwork behind it is not.
Sources: [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49742098/uefa-prepares-criminal-complaint-fifa-boss-gianni-infantino-world-cup-selloff), [Sportico](https://www.sportico.com/leagues/soccer/2026/uefa-possible-criminal-probe-over-fifas-kushner-deal-1234943083/), [ESPN – Uefa boycott](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49488584/uefa-boycott-all-fifa-competitions-protest-world-cup-private-equity-plan), [Euronews](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/27/uefa-preparing-criminal-complaint-against-fifa-chief-gianni-infantino-in-swiss-courts), [Axios](https://www.axios.com/2026/08/03/fifa-thrive-soccer-kushner-infantino), [Sky Sports](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12098/13568949/fifa-president-gianni-infantino-abandons-plans-to-sell-world-cup-profits-to-private-equity-after-widespread-criticism)
**Note on two figures:** sources differ on the $20bn number — ESPN and Sportico treat it as the implied enterprise value behind the $4.2bn/20% stake, while some outlets describe it as the amount Fifa sought to raise. I used the former, which is the arithmetic-consistent reading. The Morocco crisis-meeting detail comes from an NBC News headline; the article body returned 403, so I kept that reference general.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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