A day after this paper reported that UEFA had gone to a Florida federal court seeking FIFA documents to build a criminal case against Gianni Infantino, the case itself still does not exist. UEFA has not filed a criminal complaint with Swiss prosecutors against the FIFA president. [1]

The distinction has gotten lost in most coverage. Thursday's Al Jazeera report — like accounts from Reuters, AFP, ESPN FC and TSN circulating on X the same day — quoted UEFA saying it is "actively considering" criminal proceedings under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code over Infantino's abandoned $4.2 billion World Cup stake-sale plan, present-tense language that implies motion toward an actual filing. [1] What UEFA filed Thursday was a US discovery request, a procedural step to gather evidence and testimony, not the Swiss complaint itself. Al Jazeera's own Switzerland coverage tracker shows no filing, arrest, or prosecutorial action against Infantino in the days since. [2]

Whether the complaint ever reaches a Swiss prosecutor's desk remains an open question. UEFA's language — "actively considering" — has not hardened into a filing, even as Infantino faces mounting separate pressure, including a warning from European Leagues president Claudius Schaefer that he "cannot have a future at FIFA."

-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos