Much may depend on whether US courts side with Uefa over its requests for disclosure of evidence related to the FFE plan. It is seeking information from Fifa, Thrive Capital – the venture capital firm earmarked as the lead investor in FFE – and its founder Josh Kushner, along with former Formula 1 chief Greg Maffei, who is described as “the key commercial adviser” on the proposed deal. In the case of Thrive and Kushner, Uefa’s lawyers say they are seeking subpoenas for “the production of documents and communications and for deposition testimony”.
Although Kushner, who is the brother of US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, is yet to comment, some legal experts believe he could successfully challenge and block a subpoena request by arguing that the details of the deal need to remain confidential to protect his business interests and future investments. Kushner has recently agreed a deal to buy basketball’s Los Angeles Lakers for a record £9.3bn.
It is unclear how long this process could take, or whether Uefa will secure the evidence it needs to support its claim that the World Cup was deliberately undervalued at about £15bn. Nor is it clear whether it will ultimately follow through on its threat to lodge a criminal complaint in Switzerland.
How confident Uefa would be of criminal charges being brought is also highly uncertain. In 2002, in echoes of the current disunity, several Fifa executive committee members filed a criminal complaint against former president Sepp Blatter with a Zurich court, external. The public prosecutor took no action, while Blatter denied wrongdoing. Last year, a long-running attempt by the Swiss Attorney General’s Office to prosecute Blatter and former Uefa president Michel Platini ended with both men being fully cleared of corruption charges.
Perhaps aware of the challenges its legal action could face, Uefa has in the meantime pledged to “secure fundamental reform, restore proper limits on presidential authority and ensure that Fifa is once again governed as an institution – not around one individual”, while demanding “a genuinely independent external review of FFE”.
Given the support he retains in South America, Africa and parts of Asia, and how he has survived everything Uefa has thrown at him in recent weeks, many still expect Infantino to remain in power and seek re-election for a fourth term in the spring. Uefa has warned that, should he do so, it will “join forces with its partner confederations to ensure that member associations are offered a credible alternative – one committed to integrity, accountability, development and genuine institutional change”.
But how likely is it that a unifying challenger will emerge? And how can the game avoid a repeat of such a crisis in future?