FIFA accuses UEFA of smear campaign over commercial rights dispute

World football governing body FIFA took a lash at Europe's UEFA for starting a "smear campaign" and "fishing expedition" against FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino.

This comes after a dispute between the two organizations due to FIFA's plan to sell a stake in its commercial rights, with UEFA submitting an ex parte application to the US District Court in New York to obtain testimony and documents from US-based entities. These documents will be used in potential criminal proceedings in Switzerland, where both FIFA and UEFA are based.

"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 a filing in US District Court in Colorado on Thursday.

FIFA's filing in Colorado was a motion to intervene, requesting that the discovery process be postponed or dismissed.

According to UEFA, the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), an entity which would have had the commercial rights linked over the FIFA World Cup to investors was developed without adequate consulting FIFA's 211 member associations, as well as FIFA's own governing bodies.

UEFA threatened to boycott the FIFA World Cup should the move go ahead.

The move would have affected both the men's and the women's tournaments.

FIFA argued that the association representing European football had tried to scupper the proposal with a bid to keep European football's dominance as is.

Demands for Infatino's resignation

Pressure has been mounting on both FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino since the FFE plans were made public.

This resulted in several countries saying they will not support Infantino's reelection for a fourth term as president in March 2027, when the Swiss-born FIFA boss looks for a fourth term in office.

Aside from UEFA, two other continental confederations demand Infantino's resignation.

Both CONCACAF, representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) voiced their objections to Infantino. Only the South American and African confederations still support him.

UEFA also demanded a "genuinely independent external review" of how the proposal came about.

"FIFA cannot investigate itself and expect the football community to simply accept its conclusions," UEFA said.