FIFA blasts UEFA ‘smear campaign,’ fights World Cup plan disclosures

Published On 3 Sep 20263 Sep 2026.

Key points

• CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani is widely seen as the likeliest challenger to Infantino – UEFA's Aleksander Ceferin has ruled himself out.
• While FIFA rapidly aborted the aims in response to the backlash, UEFA is now preparing feasible legal action against FIFA President Gianni Infantino for alleged "criminal mismanagement".
• The three confederations have kept up the pressure and collaborated on a no-holds-barred joint letter issued on August 10.
• The filings say UEFA does not have the right to demand FIFA internal documents since no criminal proceedings yet exist in Switzerland or elsewhere.
• But FIFA has hit back, asking US judges for permission to contest the UEFA requests.

FIFA has accused UEFA of a "smear campaign" and a "fishing expedition" after European football's governing body asked United States judges to force FIFA to hand over documents related to its failed World Cup investor plan.

Global football body FIFA's divisive plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to investors, unveiled in July, triggered a massive backlash throughout the sport, with UEFA threatening to boycott the World Cup unless the plan was scrapped.

Last week, it filed requests in three US states seeking the disclosure of documents related to the plan from FIFA and partners, including prospective lead investor Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital firm.

If successful in gaining access to the documents, UEFA had remarked it intends to lodge a legal complaint in Switzerland, saying it has been assured the case would meet the requirements to be heard in a Swiss court.

"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, " say the FIFA filings.

Meanwhile, the filings say UEFA does not have the right to demand FIFA internal documents since no criminal proceedings yet exist in Switzerland or elsewhere.

Even if such proceedings did exist, the filings say, UEFA would not have legal standing since it has suffered no financial loss.

In practice, the FIFA filings additionally accuse UEFA of illegally bypassing Swiss courts but applying directly to US courts.

Disclosure of the documents, including correspondence involving Infantino and other named FIFA personnel and advisors, "would directly threaten FIFA's interests and reveal sensitive and proprietary information", say the filings.

UEFA has created no secret of its desire to remove Infantino. This person had hoped to be re-elected unopposed for a fourth and final term next March after a highly successful World Cup.

UEFA may have been the harshest critic – it described his proposal as a "shady, opaque backroom deal" – but it has discovered solid backing from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

For context, the three confederations have kept up the pressure and collaborated on a no-holds-barred joint letter issued on August 10.

"Leadership in football is not a possession. It is not regarding holding – or demanding – power to be held, " they wrote.

UEFA continued: "FIFA must once again be governed as an institution serving football – not operate as an instrument of individual power." FIFA has repeatedly disputed those claims.

"This application is yet another step in UEFA's smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership, " summarises one of the FIFA filings.

In short, FIFA blasts UEFA 'smear campaign, ' fights World Cup plan disclosures is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.