UEFA preparing case against Infantino

UEFA, the governing body of European football, is considering filing a criminal case against FIFA President Gianni Infantino for alleged financial mismanagement. The allegations have arisen over the sale of a 20 percent stake in FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE), FIFA's commercial operations arm, for $4.2 billion.

UEFA alleges that due process was not followed when drawing up the plan to sell the stake and that relevant FIFA authorities were not consulted. The organization also claims that Infantino's personal interests may have been involved in determining the proposed $4.2 billion price.

UEFA has requested that investment firm Thrive Capital Management gather potential evidence in connection with the incident in a Manhattan court in New York. In court documents, UEFA lawyers have mentioned that they are considering filing a criminal mismanagement case under Swiss law against Infantino and other FIFA officials.

UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF had objected to the plan to sell 20 percent of FFE's ownership for FIFA's various commercial activities, including the World Cup. Under pressure, Infantino canceled the plan on August 1. UEFA later temporarily suspended the decision to boycott FIFA competitions by European teams after receiving assurances that FIFA's commercial assets would not take such an initiative in the future.