FIFA accuse UEFA of launching 'smear campaign' against Infantino

UEFA has been accused of running a "smear campaign" against Gianni Infantino by FIFA following the former's attempt to launch legal action over a failed plot to sell shares in the World Cup.

Infantino was heavily criticised after unveiling a scheme to sell off shares in future FIFA tournaments to private investors, with UEFA's nations even threatening to boycott World Cups if the proposals were put into action.

The 56-year-old eventually rowed back on the proposals but has been subjected to calls for his resignation, while it emerged last week that UEFA are preparing a criminal file against Infantino.

They filed legal papers in the United States requesting the release of evidence and documents from FIFA. But they have responded with court filings of their own in which they accused UEFA of "a smear campaign against it and its leadership".

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The governing body also claims that UEFA's argument suffers from "legal deficiencies". According to BBC Sport, the filings say: "UEFA seeks discovery in aid of a foreign criminal proceeding that does not exist and that UEFA admittedly lacks the authority to initiate. Despite that threshold problem, UEFA asks this court to authorise sweeping discovery about the FFE."

FIFA went on to stress that it had "made clear" the creation of FFE (Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme) was "only a proposal" and would not have proceeded without overwhelming support.

"Rather than participate in that democratic process, Uefa issued a press release - the beginning of a weeks-long smear campaign against Fifa and its leadership," FIFA wrote.

In their court filing, UEFA described the creation of FFE as "a vehicle for Infantino and a small circle to acquire a permanent stake and otherwise profit from Fifa’s most valuable assets."

The fallout of the proposals have left the two governing bodies at war, although UEFA has now dropped the threat of its nations boycotting future World Cup tournaments.

UEFA are also pushing for Joshua Kushner, a venture capitalist and the son-in-law of Donald Trump who was set to be the lead investor in FFE, for a testimony.

Kushner apologised for the abandoned venture on Sunday, saying: "While we stand behind the motivations of FFE, we failed to appreciate the political dynamics of global football, and the lengths some would go to… had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved."

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