UEFA wants FIFA subsidiaries’ blocked from Infantino discovery fight in US

UEFA has urged a United States court to reject an attempt by FIFA’s American subsidiaries to intervene ⁠in its bid to obtain evidence for a potential Swiss criminal case against FIFA President Gianni Infantino over his abandoned World Cup commercial rights plan.

In a filing late on Thursday in the Manhattan federal court, European football’s governing body ⁠said FIFA (Americas) Inc and FWC2026 US Inc were improperly trying to act as stand-ins for FIFA and Infantino, neither of whom has sought to join the case.

UEFA said its request under a US discovery law seeks documents and testimony from Thrive Capital Management and its founder Joshua Kushner, who it says may hold information about ‌the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise transaction.

The plan, which Infantino withdrew on August 1 after a backlash from football bodies and other critics, envisaged selling a permanent stake in commercial and operational rights connected to the World Cup and other FIFA events to private investors.

UEFA has said it is considering filing a criminal complaint in Switzerland alleging criminal mismanagement by Infantino and potentially other FIFA officials. Infantino and FIFA have not been charged with wrongdoing.

FIFA accused UEFA last week ⁠of running a “ smear campaign ” and characterised the discovery applications as a fishing expedition ⁠intended to damage FIFA and its leadership.

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Infantino has denied doing anything wrong.

In Thursday’s response, UEFA said the subsidiaries had no direct legal interest in the New York proceedings because they were ⁠not targets of the contemplated Swiss case and were not recipients of the proposed subpoenas.