FIFA has asked a United States court to treat UEFA's discovery bid as a press release. In filings seen by the BBC, FIFA (AMERICAS) and FWC2026 US asked that permission for access to documents be deferred, or opposed by the end of the month. UEFA, FIFA wrote, "seeks discovery in aid of a foreign criminal proceeding that does not exist and that UEFA admittedly lacks the authority to initiate." [1] Deutsche Welle, dating its recap September 4, puts FIFA's motion to intervene in the U.S. District Court in Colorado, calling UEFA's papers "little more than press releases in further support of UEFA's smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership." [2] BBC's frame is New York. DW's is Colorado. The Swiss complaint this paper has watched since August 26 is still unfiled.
August 27 this paper reported that UEFA asked a U.S. court for FIFA records and that the boycott's end was not de-escalation: the filing named a Kushner-linked investor group most headlines left out. August 28 it reported that UEFA still had not filed the criminal complaint. August 30 it reported that the Dutch federation broke from Infantino rather than waiting on that complaint. Friday is FIFA litigating the absence. The boycott stood down. The complaint was the accountability mechanism. FIFA's new move is to withhold Kushner, Thrive, and Maffei documents because the proceeding "does not exist."
UEFA last week sought disclosure from FIFA entities and asked a New York court to order testimony and documents from Joshua Kushner, whose Thrive Eternal had held talks with Gianni Infantino about heading a $4.2 billion investment in 20 percent of a new FIFA commercial subsidiary, and from financier Greg Maffei. [1] FIFA says the FIFA Forward Enterprise was "only a proposal" that needed majority support from member associations and FIFA Council approvals. "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," it wrote. [1] It also claimed UEFA's "economic motivation" was to keep smaller countries from gaining "the financial strength to compete with the European elite." [1] UEFA declined to comment. BBC Sport was told that if FIFA has nothing to hide, it should disclose the documents. [1]
UEFA's lawyers argue the World Cup was deliberately undervalued at about £15 billion, "a figure that was neither the product of an open, competitive auction, nor tested by any independent valuer." [1] Those are claims in the filing, not findings. Kushner, on Sunday, expressed regret over FFE. "Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved," he said. [1]
FIFA, at the time of the proposal, claimed FFE would have raised funding distributed to each national association for the 2027-2030 cycle from £5.9 million to £14.7 million. [1] UEFA says neither Kushner nor Maffei are anticipated defendants, and that the pair first discussed the concept in July 2025, with Infantino talking to Kushner for nearly a year before a terms sheet was signed. [1] Those are allegations in a discovery fight, not a Swiss docket.
CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation still want Infantino out. CONMEBOL and CAF still back him. [2] He is seeking a fourth term in March 2027. UEFA has demanded a "genuinely independent external review." "FIFA cannot investigate itself and expect the football community to simply accept its conclusions," UEFA said. [2] The venue split matters because it is how FIFA now argues. BBC's New York copy is a challenge to litigation over a scrapped stake sale. DW's Colorado copy is a motion to intervene that asks a court to postpone or dismiss discovery. Both rest on the same claim: there is no Swiss case, so the documents should stay shut. MSM will file a governing-body feud and Infantino under pressure. Fan talk will file corruption or a European stitch-up. The Swiss filing is still not Friday's news. FIFA's opposition brief is.
-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos