Soccer-FIFA accuses UEFA of 'smear campaign' in fight over Infantino plan

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - World Cup Playoff Tournament and European Playoff draws - FIFA Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland- November 20, 2025 General view outside the headquarters REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Sept 3 (Reuters) - FIFA accused UEFA of ⁠waging a "smear campaign" against it and President Gianni Infantino, escalating a dispute over the abandoned proposal to sell a stake ⁠in the world governing body's commercial rights, according to a court filing seen by Reuters.

UEFA last week submitted an ‌ex parte application in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking permission to obtain testimony and documents from U.S.-based entities for use in potential criminal proceedings in Switzerland.

"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," FIFA said in the filing.

Reuters ⁠has contacted FIFA and UEFA for comment.

UEFA said ⁠it was considering criminal proceedings against Infantino and other FIFA officials over FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a proposed entity that would have held ⁠commercial ‌rights linked to the men's and women's World Cups.

UEFA alleged the proposal was developed without adequate consultation with FIFA's governing bodies and 211 member associations.

In a motion to intervene seen by Reuters filed on September 1 by FIFA (AMERICAS) Inc. and FWC2026 US, Inc., ⁠FIFA asked the court to defer ruling on UEFA's application or allow it ​to oppose the request.

FIFA argued that UEFA ‌was seeking discovery for "purportedly contemplated (but non-existent) Swiss criminal proceedings". The world governing body also alleged UEFA had sought to ⁠derail theFFE proposal from the ​outset.

The proposal was withdrawn on July 31 after opposition from UEFA and other regional governing bodies.

"Rather than participate in that democratic process, UEFA issued a press release, the beginning of a weeks-long smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership," FIFA said in the filing.

FIFA further argued that UEFA's opposition was motivated ⁠by a desire to preserve European football's dominance.

MOUNTING PRESSURE ONINFANTINO

Infantino, up for ​re-election for a fourth term in March 2027, has been criticised since tabling the now-abandoned proposal, with several countries withdrawing their support for his candidacy.

The Swiss-Italian administrator is under pressure from three confederations to resign, including UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF, which represents North and Central ⁠America and the Caribbean.

The regional governing bodies have discussed a potential vote of no confidence in Infantino.

Infantino, who retains support from the African and South American confederations, has sought to sideline the confederations and appeal directly to individual members.

UEFA, in a statement last week, said that it would work with partner confederations to ensure member associations are offered a "credible alternative" committed to reform, if Infantino seeks ​another term.

UEFA also provisionally suspended plans to boycott FIFA competitions, paving the way for all qualified ⁠teams to participate in next month's Under-20 Women's World Cup in Poland, the first major tournament that could have been affected by thestandoff.

However, the ​body said its members had unanimously mandated the confederation to pursue "every available institutional, political ‌and legal avenue" to secure reforms and restore limits on presidential ​authority.

The confederation also called for "a genuinely independent external review" of the failed FIFA proposal, saying: "FIFA cannot investigate itself and expect the football community simply to accept its conclusions."

(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru and Frank PingueEditing by Christian Radnedge)

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资料照片：足球——世界杯附加赛和欧洲杯附加赛抽签仪式——国际足联总部，瑞士苏黎世——2025年11月20日。总部外景。路透社/Denis Balibouse/资料照片

9月3日（路透社）——据路透社看到的一份法庭文件显示，国际足联指责欧足联对其及其主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺发起“抹黑运动”，加剧了双方就出售该世界管理机构商业权利股份的提议而引发的争端。

上周，欧足联向纽约南区地方法院提交了一份单方面申请，请求允许其从美国实体获取证词和文件，以便在瑞士进行潜在的刑事诉讼。

国际足联在提交的文件中表示：“虽然这些申请以法律诉讼的形式出现，带有标题和案卷编号，但它们只不过是新闻稿，进一步支持欧足联对国际足联及其领导层的抹黑运动。”

路透社已联系国际足联和欧足联征求意见。

欧足联表示，正在考虑对因凡蒂诺和其他国际足联官员提起刑事诉讼，起因是国际足联前瞻企业（FFE）的成立。FFE是一个拟议中的实体，本应持有与男足和女足世界杯相关的商业权利。

欧足联声称，该提案的制定没有与国际足联的管理机构和 211 个成员协会进行充分磋商。

路透社看到的一份由国际足联（美洲）有限公司和 FWC2026 美国有限公司于 9 月 1 日提交的干预动议中，国际足联要求法院推迟对欧足联申请的裁决，或者允许其反对该请求。

国际足联辩称，欧足联寻求调查是为了“据称正在考虑（但实际上并不存在）的瑞士刑事诉讼”。该世界足球管理机构还指控欧足联从一开始就试图阻挠欧洲足球联合会（FFE）的提案。

在遭到欧足联和其他地区管理机构的反对后，该提案于7月31日被撤回。

国际足联在文件中表示：“欧足联没有参与民主进程，而是发布了一份新闻稿，开始了长达数周的针对国际足联及其领导层的抹黑运动。”

国际足联进一步辩称，欧足联的反对是出于维护欧洲足球统治地位的愿望。

对INFANTINO施加压力

因凡蒂诺将于 2027 年 3 月竞选第四个任期，自提出现已放弃的提案以来，他一直受到批评，一些国家撤回了对他的支持。

这位瑞士-意大利籍的足球管理者正面临来自三个足协的压力，要求他辞职，这三个足协分别是欧洲足球协会联盟、亚洲足球联合会和中北美及加勒比海足球协会（代表北美、中美洲和加勒比海地区）。

地区管理机构已经讨论了对因凡蒂诺发起不信任投票的可能性。

因凡蒂诺得到了非洲和南美洲联合会的支持，他试图绕过这些联合会，直接向个别成员发出呼吁。

欧足联上周发表声明称，如果因凡蒂诺寻求连任，欧足联将与合作伙伴联合会合作，确保为成员协会提供一个致力于改革的“可信替代方案”。

欧足联也暂时中止了抵制国际足联比赛的计划，为所有获得参赛资格的球队参加下个月在波兰举行的U20女足世界杯铺平了道路，这是第一个可能受到此次僵局影响的大型赛事。

然而，该机构表示，其成员一致授权该联盟采取“一切可用的制度、政治和法律途径”来确保改革并恢复对总统权力的限制。

该联合会还呼吁对国际足联失败的提案进行“真正独立的外部审查”，并表示：“国际足联不能自行调查，然后指望足球界简单地接受其结论。”

（卡兰·普拉尚特·萨克塞纳在班加罗尔报道，弗兰克·平格编辑，克里斯蒂安·拉德内奇编辑）

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