The International Football Federation, FIFA, has accused its European counterpart, UEFA, of spreading misinformation about the plan to allow private investors to acquire parts of the World Cup.
In a letter to a court in the American state of Florida, FIFA alleges that UEFA "acts with the intention of intimidating, rather than out of a legitimate need for investigation."
UEFA announced in August that it would prepare legal proceedings against FIFA President Gianni Infantino and other members of the organisation, asking a US court for access to witness statements and documents. FIFA countersued in the court in Florida to block this access.
At that time, FIFA accused UEFA of running a smear campaign.
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UEFA is reportedly pushing for a complaint to be lodged on the grounds of “breach of trust”, an offence punishable by up to five years of imprisonment. However, UEFA would need to prove that FIFA’s interests were deliberately harmed by Infantino or others.
At the end of July, news broke that president Infantino had plans to sell shares in the World Cup to private investors, potentially enriching himself in the process.
At an emergency meeting, the 55 members of UEFA subsequently decided that no country would take part in any FIFA tournament. Shortly afterwards, the plans were scrapped, but the boycott was only lifted afterwards.
Since then, FIFA has been pushing for discussions on a better redistribution of the organisation’s resources and on improving its operations.
