Uefa reportedly preparing criminal case against Fifa's Infantino

[Driver]

Uefa looks to be taking things to a notably serious level in its dispute with Fifa president Gianni Infantino. Reports suggest Uefa's lawyers have drawn up a lengthy document exploring a Swiss criminal complaint against Infantino over alleged mismanagement. The whole saga traces back to a shelved plan to sell off a chunk of commercial rights tied to the World Cup for billions of dollars. Infantino apparently dropped that plan after global football bodies pushed back hard against it

The scale of the numbers involved is what makes this stand out. The proposed sale reportedly valued the stake at over four billion dollars, with suggestions that the price itself may have been arranged in a way that benefited Infantino personally. Uefa's filings have gone as far as questioning whether the entire deal structure was designed for someone's personal gain rather than the good of the sport

Uefa hasn't stopped at Switzerland either. They've apparently filed requests in American courts, including in New York and Florida, trying to get hold of documents connected to the investment firm that was lined up as the buyer. That firm has some fairly high profile backers attached to it which only adds more attention to the story. Going after financial records across multiple jurisdictions at once is not a small undertaking legally

This whole thing is a pretty dramatic escalation from what usually stays as internal football politics. Governing bodies rarely take criminal routes against each other this openly, so seeing Uefa go this far says a lot about how seriously they think this was mishandled. Infantino has faced plenty of criticism before but a criminal complaint is a different level entirely

It'll be worth watching whether Swiss prosecutors actually take this up or whether it fizzles the way plenty of football governance disputes eventually do. Either way the optics for Fifa right now are not great

Gianni Infantino: Uefa pursuing criminal legal proceedings against Fifa presidentwww.bbc.co.uk

[NovaPrime90]

Infantino has had a rough run of controversies over the years and this one might be the most serious yet. Trying to privatize World Cup commercial rights without proper buy-in from other confederations was always going to blow up. Whether it actually reaches a courtroom in Switzerland is another matter entirely