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UEFA is fighting FIFA in a Manhattan courtroom because it believes Gianni Infantino tried to sell pieces of the World Cup to private investors without real oversight. The governing body wants documents and testimony from Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital, hoping the paper trail supports a criminal mismanagement complaint in Switzerland. FIFA’s American subsidiaries tried to join the case this month, and UEFA just told a federal court exactly why they don’t belong there. It isn’t happening in a vacuum. It traces back to a plan FIFA itself abandoned in July.
FIFA announced FIFA Forward Enterprise on July 28, 2026, pitching it as a $20 billion commercial subsidiary built to run the money side of the World Cup and the Club World Cup. The plan, developed with JPMorgan and adviser Greg Maffei, would have let Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital buy roughly 20 percent of the entity while FIFA kept majority control, and it promised to more than double development payments to FIFA’s 211 member associations, from $8 million to $20 million a year through 2030.
The idea wasn’t sudden. Kushner, Maffei and Infantino had reportedly discussed it for close to a year, tracing back to talks at the Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley.
| Date | Event | Significance |
| July 28, 2026 | FIFA announces FFE | $20bn subsidiary; Thrive to buy ~20% of World Cup rights |
| July 30, 2026 | All 55 UEFA members vote to boycott | CONCACAF and AFC join the opposition |
| July 31, 2026 | Infantino withdraws the FFE proposal | FIFA says the plan will not proceed |
| Aug 17, 2026 | FIFA sacks COO Kevin Lamour | Lamour had said staff were deceived by FFE |
| Aug 27, 2026 | FIFA confirms FFE withdrawn in writing | UEFA pauses its boycott threat |
| Sept 10, 2026 | UEFA rejects FIFA subsidiaries in court | Says they have no legal interest in the case |
| Sept 15, 2026 | UEFA meets in Thessaloniki | FFE case expected on the agenda |
UEFA’s case is playing out in a Manhattan federal court, where it is using US discovery law to chase documents and testimony from Thrive Capital and Kushner himself. That material, UEFA believes, could feed a Swiss mismanagement complaint against Infantino.
On September 10, two FIFA subsidiaries, FIFA (Americas) Inc and FWC2026 US Inc, tried to intervene in the case, and UEFA’s response was blunt. Neither company is a target of the prospective Swiss proceedings, UEFA argued, and neither is the recipient of the subpoenas in question.
UEFA also waved away the subsidiaries’ confidentiality complaints, pointing out that any such concerns belong to FIFA’s Swiss parent, not its American arms. FIFA has branded the effort a fishing expedition.
At the centre of all this sits a simple allegation: that Infantino tried to hand a permanent stake in football’s biggest commercial asset to private investors without opening it up to competing bidders, at a price UEFA suspects was below fair market value.
FIFA’s five-person management board bureau was reportedly summoned to the Waldorf Astoria in New York and told to approve the deal by midnight, even though several members said they had never heard of it before.
There is also a personal angle the whistleblowers raised. The Times reported that Infantino had been eyeing a senior role inside FFE once his FIFA presidency ends in 2031, with a salary near $30 million plus bonuses, a figure compared to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s roughly $64 million annual pay.
Sources at Thrive told US financial media there was a side arrangement promising Infantino a leading role and a new salary inside the entity. Infantino denies any wrongdoing.
A Manhattan judge still has to decide whether FIFA’s US subsidiaries get to intervene. If UEFA wins, the documents it is chasing from Thrive Capital could support a formal Swiss criminal complaint.
UEFA’s executive committee gathers in Thessaloniki on September 15, where the case is expected to come up under the standing FIFA Matters agenda item. FIFA maintains FFE is dead and buried, which is why UEFA has paused its boycott threat, but the governance dispute underneath the FIFA Forward deal World Cup 2026 rights fight is far from settled.
Do you think Infantino’s World Cup shake-up deserved the backlash it got, or did UEFA overreact? Tell us where you land.
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What was FIFA Forward Enterprise?
It was a scrapped $20 billion plan to sell investors a stake in FIFA’s competition rights. Thrive Capital would have bought about 20 percent before FIFA withdrew the plan in July.
Why is UEFA opposing FIFA’s US entities in court?
UEFA says the two subsidiaries have no real stake in the Manhattan discovery case. Neither one is a subpoena target, and UEFA argues they are standing in for Infantino without cause.
Could Gianni Infantino face criminal charges?
Not yet, though UEFA is weighing a Swiss mismanagement complaint if discovery goes its way. No charges have been filed, and Infantino firmly denies any wrongdoing in the matter.
Who is Joshua Kushner in the FIFA case?
He is the Thrive Capital founder who was lined up to buy a stake in FIFA’s rights. Kushner later admitted his firm misjudged the political backlash inside global football.
When does UEFA next discuss the case?
UEFA’s executive committee meets in Thessaloniki on September 15, 2026. The FIFA Forward case is expected to come up under its standing FIFA Matters agenda item that day.
