EMBATTLED FIFA PRESIDENT Gianni Infantino was on Thursday potentially facing a legal suit brought by Uefa accusing him of \u201ccriminal mismanagement\u201d over his now-shelved plan to bring private financing into the World Cup.<\/p>\n
But, the 56-year-old Swiss chief of world football\u2019s governing body gained some respite when Uefa also announced later on Thursday that they were withdrawing, \u201con a provisional basis\u201d, their threat to boycott Fifa tournaments.<\/p>\n
That will be music to the ears of Poland, who are hosting next month\u2019s women\u2019s under-20 World Cup.<\/p>\n
However, the nuclear option of a boycott \u2013 widely seen as pivotal in forcing Infantino into his humiliating climbdown just days after launching the proposal last month \u2013 remains.<\/p>\n
Uefa, European football\u2019s governing body, said after a meeting of the continent\u2019s member associations in Monaco that it had \u201cagreed to suspend, on a provisional basis, the withdrawal by European teams from FIFA competitions in the coming season\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis position will remain under constant review and may be reconsidered immediately if circumstances so require.\u201d<\/p>\n
The provisional suspension may be a relief for Infantino \u2013 whom Uefa have urged to resign \u2013 but the threat of a legal suit will leave a far sourer taste.<\/p>\n
\u201cUEFA is actively considering legal action arising out of and in connection with the\u2026 plan proposed by FIFA,\u201d read the legal document, seen by news agency AFP, to be filed in a court in Florida in the United States.<\/p>\n
The document is a request for permission to gather evidence for a potential criminal complaint in Switzerland, where both Uefa and world football\u2019s governing body Fifa are based.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore specifically, UEFA and other interested parties are preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino and possibly other FIFA officials and advisors for criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code,\u201d it continues.\n<\/p>\n
\u2018Serving football\u2019<\/p>\n
![\"paris-france-23rd-aug-2026-french-president-emmanuel-macron-and-the-crown-prince-and-saudi-arabias-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-mbs-and-president-of-fifa-gianni-infantino-attend-the-closing-c\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787883677_897_.jpeg\")
\n French President Emmanuel Macron and the Crown Prince and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman MBS and President of FIFA Gianni Infantino attend the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on 23 August. Abaca Press \/ Alamy Live News<\/p>\n
Abaca Press \/ Alamy Live News \/ Alamy Live News\n<\/p>\n
Uefa laid out a long list of documents they wanted access to, pertaining to the background of the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan.<\/p>\n
These include a meeting that was held at a hotel in New York City on the eve of the World Cup final last month and which several senior Fifa directors attended where they were, according to the New York Times, apprised of the plan.<\/p>\n
According to the newspaper, of the five directors present, two refused to sign off on it \u2013 one of them was chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, who has since left Fifa.<\/p>\n
If successful in gaining access to the documents, Uefa intend to lodge the complaint in Switzerland and said they had been assured it met the requirements to be heard in a Swiss court.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn information and belief, Infantino\u2019s actions described herein rise to the level of criminal mismanagement,\u201d Uefa said.<\/p>\n
Infantino had been hoping for a smooth ride to being re-elected unopposed for a fourth and final term next March in Rabat after a highly successful World Cup.<\/p>\n
However, within days Infantino had used up all his credit with his folie de grandeur.<\/p>\n
Uefa may have been the harshest critics \u2013 they described his proposal as a \u201cshady, opaque backroom deal\u201d \u2013 but they found solid support from CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).<\/p>\n
CONCACAF\u2019S president Victor Montagliani is widely seen as the likeliest challenger to Infantino \u2013 Uefa\u2019s Aleksander \u010ceferin has ruled himself out.<\/p>\n
The three confederations have kept up the pressure and collaborated on a no-holds-barred joint letter issued earlier this month.<\/p>\n
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\n FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin. Mark Pain \/ Alamy Live News<\/p>\n
Mark Pain \/ Alamy Live News \/ Alamy Live News\n<\/p>\n
\u201cLeadership in football is not a possession. It is not about holding \u2013 or demanding \u2013 power to be held,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned,\u201d the confederations added.<\/p>\n
Infantino is not without friends \u2013 2034 World Cup hosts Saudi Arabia came out in support on Thursday, with African football\u2019s governing body CAF and South America\u2019s CONMEBOL supportive.<\/p>\n
However, Uefa remain unabashed in their determination for his 10-year reign to come to an end, signing off with a flourish in Thursday\u2019s statement over the suspension of the boycott.<\/p>\n
\u201cFifa must once again be governed as an institution serving football \u2013 not operate as an instrument of individual power.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EMBATTLED FIFA PRESIDENT Gianni Infantino was on Thursday potentially facing a legal suit brought by Uefa accusing him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[18,34476,22,74963,19,17,132,2423,19413,35350],"class_list":["post-660239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-eire","tag-fifa","tag-football","tag-gianni-infantino","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports","tag-switzerland","tag-uefa","tag-world-cup"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117170752898354174","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}