The background to the decision is evidence collection procedures initiated by UEFA. These affect FIFA on the one hand, but also other parties involved in the FFE deal: the investment company Thrive Capital Management, the major bank JP Morgan and a consulting firm. UEFA would like to use the evidence to be secured there to file criminal charges in Switzerland against responsible FIFA actors.
The goal of the FFE project was to outsource the rights to the World Cup to this newly founded company and then sell 20 percent of it to external investors. The company Thrive Capital Management owned by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, was intended as an anchor investor. What was striking, among other things, was the project's low planned overall valuation of just $20 billion. A small group pushed this project forward for many months, then it was discovered and canceled after a worldwide protest.
The long secrecy surrounding the entire process, the proposed knock-down price and the fact that some top FIFA officials who were inaugurated in a surprise manner had resisted signing off on the project shortly before the project was exposed strengthen the Europeans' suspicions. Their accusations are serious: Infantino and a small circle of insiders could possibly have personally benefited from the construction. According to documents, Kushner and his investment company Thrive Capital played a central role in the development of the project. The major bank JP Morgan, which is not inexperienced in (failed) football projects, is said to have been involved in finding investors, evaluating and preparing the deal.
Infantino could soon be questioned before the US Judiciary Committee
Against this background, UEFA demanded in August that all documents and information about the FFE coup be released. FIFA is defending itself against this. Her own trial is ongoing in Florida. In New York, it tried to force two subsidiaries to join the proceedings against Kushner's investment firm and JP Morgan. Judge Jeannette A. Vargas now rejected that. In its justification, it pointed out that the Swiss FIFA and its American subsidiaries were legally independent organizations and that the latter had not demonstrated a sufficiently direct, legally protected interest.
The court has not yet decided on the main issue, i.e. whether UEFA actually receives the requested documents. But the interim legal victory could be groundbreaking - especially since the judge opposed postponing the proceedings until the Florida case is decided. That would delay the proceedings unnecessarily and thus put UEFA at a disadvantage. At the same time, Fifa's entire behavior also fits in with its refusal to answer a detailed, 42-point questionnaire to UEFA about the FFE deal and other compliance questions. Instead, there is a succinct invitation to its own top officials to supposedly be able to view all the papers in Zurich headquarters.
With the first legal defeat, the noose around Infantino tightens further. Especially since not only the opposition from Europe is pushing for all documents to be disclosed, but also the US Justice Committee from January, which then wants to question Infantino about the FFE affair, but also about many other connections to the Trump camp. If necessary, using coercive measures - such measures will also be available to the US Democrats in the future, who will also take control of the Judiciary Committee after their victory in the US midterm elections.
