FIFA has accused European football’s governing body UEFA of a “misinformation” campaign in its bid to access documents related to Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell off parts of the World Cup.
In FIFA’s response in a court case in Florida, it says UEFA’s attempt to force the world body to hand over the documents is also an attempt to “influence” next year’s FIFA presidential election.
Infantino caused uproar in July with proposals to create a commercial subsidiary to run its biggest events, such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.
The plan would have allowed private investors to acquire stakes in a company created under the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative. The backlash that followed led to the proposals being quickly shelved.
FIFA says in its court filing that UEFA makes “numerous false or misleading statements” about Infantino and the world governing body, including that “Infantino sought to profit personally from the FFE proposal”.