'A multi-billion dollar scheme,' UEFA prepares criminal proceedings against FIFA President Infantino

UEFA is preparing to launch legal proceedings against FIFA President Gianni Infantino over his plans to privatize the World Cup.

UEFA and other parties are preparing for a legal case in Switzerland against FIFA officials for criminal mismanagement as well as any additional charges that may be discovered as the case develops.

The case alleges that "the secretive structuring, valuation, financing, and marketing of a transaction inflicted direct and concrete injury on FIFA's reputation, governance authority, and commercial relationships."

Despite the case being slated for Switzerland, UEFA has subpoenaed FIFA in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as investment fund Thrive Capital Management, founded by Joshua Kushner, is based there.

Joshua Kushner, brother of President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared, was supposed to be the anchor investor. He was expected to invest upwards of $4 billion for a 20% stake in a subsidiary that would run FIFA's commercial events.

UEFA alleges that the $4.2 billion valuation would be a "fraudulently off-market price promoted by Infantino for his own benefit."

They argue that a total valuation of the entire enterprise at $20 billion was "absurdly low" and that the figure was not the result of an open process nor was the figure tested by an independent valuer.

The suit also alleges that the plan had been pushed by Infantino and his allies on FIFA employees who had never heard of the plan and were given mere hours to sign off on "an unprecedented multi-billion dollar scheme."

On July 28, Infantino announced that he was looking into spinning off the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments into a privately funded venture. Those plans collapsed on August 1 following a massive backlash against the privatization of the tournaments.