November 13: A New York court has denied FIFA’s motion to block UEFA’s bid to compel Thrive and JPMorgan to disclose confidential documents about Gianni Infantino’s failed World Cup settlement plan.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that FIFA, through its American subsidiaries FIFA (AMERICAS) INC. and FWC2026 US, INC, had no “direct, substantial and legally protected interest” in intervening in UEFA’s request.
In August, the European confederation filed court documents in New York, Florida and Colorado as part of a legal strategy, which includes building a criminal case in Switzerland, against FIFA. UEFA has tried to remove FIFA president Infantino from his post, but he has resisted calls for him to resign and instead confirmed he wants another term in office.
UEFA’s lawyers are demanding that Joshua Kushner’s New York investment firm Thrive Capital and FIFA adviser JPMorgan uncover the July World Cup investor plan that Infantino hatched in secret that sparked a global soccer backlash.
District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas wrote, “Nothing in this record indicates that the US FIFA parties, or even FIFA itself, will be a party to the contemplated criminal proceedings. Certainly, the US FIFA parties have not alleged facts suggesting that they would be defendants in these proceedings.”
Vargas also denied the motion because FIFA’s U.S. subsidiaries failed to show why they, and not their parent company, should assert their interests.
She wrote: “In other words, the confidentiality interests that the US FIFA parties seek to protect belong to their Swiss parent … The question for the Court, then, is whether the US FIFA parties can properly assert their parent’s interests.
“The US FIFA parties do not explain why FIFA itself is unable to advance these arguments on its own behalf, nor why it would have a legally cognizable “role” in asserting FIFA’s interests in this litigation, the source of its authority to do so, or why or how that role is divided between the two proposed intervening companies.
“The parent-subsidiary relationship between FIFA and the US FIFA parties does not, by itself, provide the necessary legal interest.”
However, the ruling has not yet granted the discovery UEFA is seeking.
Kushner’s firm reportedly hired Alex Spiro, best known for representing Elon Musk, to defend against UEFA’s legal action. Thrive was to be an investor in Infantino’s FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a vehicle that would have privatized the World Cup and reportedly set up a lucrative commissioner position for Infantino himself.
The investors had planned to pay $4.2 billion for a stake of more than 20% in the FFE, which would organize FIFA tournaments. FIFA’s 211 member associations were offered $20 million to approve the plan, but UEFA, followed by Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation, opposed the plan.
Since then, Infantino has been campaigning to strengthen support for his re-election. Japan’s Kohzo Tashima, a member of the FIFA Council, will challenge him, while ex-Swiss international Ramon Vega is also expected to run. The deadline for candidates to jump into the ring is November 18.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at (email protected)
