UEFA has initiated legal proceedings in Switzerland against FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, over a controversial plan to sell stakes in the commercial rights to the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors.
Documents seen by BBC Sport on Thursday revealed that UEFA had applied for access to evidence and documents it intends to use in the proceedings against FIFA and Infantino.
The legal action follows Infantino’s announcement on July 28, 2026, of plans to transfer the commercial rights to the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup to a new FIFA subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise.
According to UEFA’s application, the proposal was announced without prior consultation with the FIFA Council, UEFA, other continental confederations or any of FIFA’s 211 member associations.
The application stated that Infantino, purportedly acting on behalf of FIFA, publicly announced the plan without consulting the organisation’s key governing bodies and members.
UEFA further alleged that the announcement represented the public unveiling of a proposal that Infantino and a small group of associates had allegedly developed in secret for more than a year.
The application described the plan as having been conceived without the involvement of the wider FIFA membership, raising questions about the governance process surrounding the commercial rights.
The proposed investment structure has since been abandoned. However, UEFA’s legal action could increase scrutiny of FIFA’s decision-making processes and the management of commercial rights associated with its major competitions.
The proceedings are being pursued in Switzerland, where FIFA is headquartered.
UEFA is seeking access to documents and other evidence that it believes may be relevant to its case against FIFA and Infantino.
The dispute represents another significant challenge to Infantino’s leadership of world football and could have wider implications for how FIFA manages and commercialises the rights to its flagship tournaments.
