{"id":6080,"date":"2026-09-29T11:26:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T11:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=6080"},"modified":"2026-09-29T11:26:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T11:26:33","slug":"in-fifa-uefa-tussle-european-body-accused-of-misinformation-campaign-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=6080","title":{"rendered":"In FIFA-UEFA tussle, European body accused of \u2018misinformation campaign\u2019 | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FIFA accuses UEFA of attempting to influence its presidential election, in which Gianni Infantino is seeking a fourth term.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 29 Sep 2026<\/span>29 Sep 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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FIFA has accused European football\u2019s governing body, UEFA<\/a>, of waging a \u201cmisinformation campaign\u201d and trying to influence the race for its presidency amid a growing governance crisis in the sport.<\/p>\n

Football\u2019s global governing body urged a court in the United States on Tuesday to reject UEFA\u2019s \u2060\u2060discovery request<\/a> linked to FIFA president Gianni Infantino\u2019s controversial investment proposal for rights to the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Last month, UEFA asked a US federal court for permission to obtain testimony and documents for use in a planned criminal complaint in Switzerland against Infantino<\/a> over a now-abandoned plan to transfer \u2060\u2060World Cup commercial rights into a subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).<\/p>\n

In its response, FIFA said UEFA\u2019s brief contained \u201cnumerous false or misleading statements about FIFA and Infantino\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith no basis whatsoever, UEFA suggests that Mr Infantino sought to profit personally from the FFE proposal,\u201d FIFA said in a filing in the Southern District of Florida, opposing UEFA\u2019s motion for discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs explained, the FFE plan was subject to approval \u200c\u200cby both the FIFA member associations and FIFA Council, and FFE would have been subject to oversight by both groups within FIFA,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUEFA\u2019s suggestions that Mr Infantino violated any law or ethical principle are categorically without merit.\u201d<\/p>\n

UEFA alleged<\/a> Infantino developed the proposal in secret with a small group of advisers and investors, bypassing the global body\u2019s normal governance processes and failing to consult FIFA Council, regional confederations or member associations.<\/p>\n

The European body said in the legal \u2060\u2060filing that investors would have paid $4.2bn for a stake in FFE, valuing \u2060\u2060the business at about $20bn.<\/p>\n

It said the valuation significantly undervalued FIFA\u2019s commercial rights and alleged it had not been subjected to an open auction or tested by an independent valuer.<\/p>\n

\u201cUEFA, whether deliberately or through ignorance, conflates equity value with enterprise value,\u201d FIFA said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is undisputed that FFE\u2019s \u2018initial equity valuation\u2019 \u2014 meaning \u2018the \u2060\u2060value that remains for the shareholders after any debts have been paid off\u2019 \u2014 was $20 billion \u2026 Materials distributed to FIFA\u2019s member associations reveal that FFE\u2019s total \u2018enterprise value\u2019 on the other hand \u2014 meaning the \u2018entire \u2060\u2060value of the business\u2019 \u2014 was well over $30 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, FFE\u2019s enterprise value was well \u2060\u2060in excess of twice the equity value, and therefore far above the value UEFA says would be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Attempt to influence election\u2019<\/h2>\n

The FFE project was abandoned in July following opposition from confederations, including UEFA, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football and the Asian Football Confederation, over a lack of consultation, with the dispute fuelling demands for \u200c\u200cchanges to FIFA\u2019s governance.<\/p>\n

Last week, Infantino wrote to all 211 member associations proposing an independent review of the governing body\u2019s decision-making processes.<\/p>\n

The Swiss administrator is up for re-election in March, and FIFA has alleged that UEFA\u2019s legal filings are an attempt \u200c\u200cto \u200c\u200cinfluence that election.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust before FIFA\u2019s election, UEFA filed this 1782 Application (and three others) spreading misinformation regarding Mr Infantino,\u201d FIFA said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis court should reject any attempt to influence FIFA\u2019s presidential election based on these grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier on Monday, Infantino said he was willing \u200c\u200c\u200c\u200c\u200c\u200c\u200c\u200cto discuss the disbursement of millions of dollars<\/a> to \u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060its member associations with the exact \u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060amount of the distributions to individual nations set to be on the agenda of the FIFA Council\u2019s October 15 meeting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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FIFA accuses UEFA of attempting to influence its presidential election, in which Gianni Infantino is seeking a fourth term. Published On 29 Sep 202629 Sep 2026 FIFA has accused European football\u2019s governing body, UEFA, of waging a \u201cmisinformation campaign\u201d and trying to influence the race for its presidency amid a growing governance crisis in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t