UEFA has raised the possibility that it might take legal action against Gianni Infantino over his World Cup sell-off plan and warned him not to destroy any documents relating to the controversial proposal, sources have told ESPN.
European football’s governing body has also written to Joshua Kushner, Greg Maffei, JP Morgan and Open Economics to inform them that it is considering legal action over their association with the shelved proposal.
ESPN has seen a document preservation letter addressed to FIFA president Infantino — a formal written request sent to stop the destruction of evidence — which helps to ensure that documents relevant to a dispute will be retained for possible future legal action.
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FIFA has been approached for comment.
Infantino scrapped his proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup after widespread backlash.
Infantino had proposed creating a $20 billion company to run the World Cup with private investors, including the Kushner family, but drew pushback that grew every day since Tuesday’s announcement.
In a statement late on Friday, Infantino said the “proposal will not proceed.”
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His announcement came after UEFA’s 55 member nations had agreed to boycott the World Cup and all other FIFA competitions on Thursday to protest the proposal, saying “some things are simply too important to sell.” Two senior FIFA officials criticised the plan, with one resigning as a presidential adviser and a second saying staff members were deceived by the project that must not go ahead.
The collapse of Infantino’s plan to create a $20 billion FIFA subsidiary that would run the football body’s competitions and events such as World Cups and Club World Cups has thrown his expected re-election as FIFA president in March next year into doubt.
