Attorneys representing Fifa have challenged Uefa’s request for discovery in a US federal filing made earlier this week. The lawyers characterised Uefa’s legal efforts as “little more than press releases in further support of [a] smear campaign against Fifa and its leadership” and asked the judge to dismiss the request.
The filing seeks permission for Fifa US, a subsidiary business unit of Fifa, to officially oppose the request for discovery by 30 September.
Uefa had submitted four separate requests for subpoena in different US courts at the end of August. These requests argued that discovery was necessary as Uefa considered initiating criminal proceedings against Fifa president Gianni Infantino regarding the proposed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) plan. The information sought included documents and communications from Fifa, Joshua Kushner, and his investment firm Thrive Capital, which was intended to be the lead investor in Infantino’s plan. Information from other related parties, including JP Morgan, was also requested.
Filing on behalf of Fifa, attorney H Christopher Boehning argued that the discovery request should be delayed or denied partly because Uefa has no active legal proceedings against Fifa in Switzerland. The filing also contended that discovery would effectively “use the legal process and public US filings to expose information that [Fifa] is obligated to keep confidential under [its] governing rules.”