FIFA accused UEFA of conducting a “disinformation campaign” and of attempting to influence the race for its presidency, as the world soccer governing body asked a U.S. court to reject a motion to disclose information related to a controversial investment proposal.
Last month, UEFA asked a U.S. federal court for permission to obtain depositions and documents to use in a criminal complaint in Switzerland against FIFA President Gianni Infantino, regarding a plan —which was ultimately abandoned—to transfer the commercial rights to the World Cup to a subsidiary company named FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
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In its response to the court filing, FIFA stated that UEFA’s document contained “numerous false or misleading statements regarding FIFA and Infantino.” FIFA’s legal representatives argue in the filing: “UEFA’s conduct demonstrates that its legal action was brought in bad faith and for the purpose of harassment.”
In a brief filed in the Southern District of Florida, opposing UEFA’s motion for discovery, FIFA stated: “Without any basis whatsoever, UEFA insinuates that Mr. Infantino sought to derive personal benefit from the proposal regarding the FFE. The FFE plan was subject to approval by both FIFA’s member associations and the FIFA Council, and the FFE would have been subject to oversight by both of these bodies within FIFA. UEFA’s insinuations that Mr. Infantino violated any law or ethical principle are categorically without merit.”
The European governing body argued that Infantino drafted the proposal in secret, in collaboration with a small group of advisors and investors, bypassing FIFA’s standard procedures and without consulting the FIFA Council, the regional confederations, or the member associations.
In the filing, UEFA stated that the investors would pay $4.2 billion (3.2 billion pounds) for a stake in FFE, valuing the company at approximately $20 billion. It added that this valuation significantly undervalued FIFA’s commercial rights and argued that there was neither an open bidding process nor an evaluation by an independent appraiser.
“UEFA, whether intentionally or out of ignorance, confuses equity value with enterprise value,” FIFA stated. “It is indisputable that the FFE’s ‘initial equity valuation’—that is, ‘the value remaining for shareholders after the repayment of any debts’ —amounted to $20 billion. The data distributed to FIFA’s member associations reveals that the total “enterprise value” (enterprise value) of FFE, on the other hand—that is, the “total value of the enterprise”—far exceeded $30 billion… In fact, the enterprise value of FFE was well over twice the value of its equity and, consequently, was much higher than the value UEFA considers fair.”
*photo source: AP
