The fallout from FIFA's ill-fated plan to privatize part of its commercial rights and sell them to investors landed in New York district court on Thursday as UEFA, European soccer's governing body, requested subpoenas for Joshua Kushner and his fund Thrive Capital Management.
UEFA said that it hoped to use the documents in a criminal proceeding against FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Switzerland. In a separate filing in Florida, attorneys for the organization also requested documents specifically from FIFA, which keeps an office in Miami.
The filings were the latest salvo in the ongoing fight between two of the most powerful entities in the global game. Soccer has been sharply divided ever since news of Infantino's proposal first emerged last month. The plan valued the commercial rights of FIFA competitions at around $20 billion, with Thrive lined up as a lead investor prepared to sink at least $4 billion into FIFA Forward Enterprise. People close to Infantino alleged that he hoped to run FFE from 2031 after one more term as FIFA president. (Infantino has denied that this was his intention.)
The entire affair prompted immediate outcry from soccer federations around the world and sparked a campaign from officials in Europe and North America to remove Infantino from office. He remains, however, the only candidate in FIFA's presidential election next March.
"In truth, it was a vehicle for Infantino and that small circle to acquire a permanent stake in and otherwise profit from FIFA's most valuable assets," UEFA's Thursday filing said, "to the detriment of FIFA, its members, and other parties within the football family."
"Those investors stood to acquire a permanent financial interest in FIFA's commercial arm for $4.2 billion, implying an absurdly low enterprise value of only approximately $20 billion," the filing added.
Neither FIFA nor Thrive immediately returned a request for comment.
The filing came as UEFA officials gathered in Monaco and prepared to climb down from their boycott of all FIFA competitions. For weeks, the organization had said it was prepared to hold back European teams from all global tournaments, including the World Cup, unless it received guarantees that FIFA would never attempt another selloff.
Its resolve was due to be tested next week when teams are supposed to be in Poland for the Under-20 Women's World Cup. But while that crisis has been averted, UEFA hasn't stopped working against Infantino. This week, several more European countries published letters formally withdrawing the support they had pledged to Infantino as recently as the spring.