European football’s governing body has formally warned the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA)’s president, Gianni Infantino, to preserve all documents related to his controversial $20 billion World Cup investment scheme, as it considers legal action against him and several financial partners.
A document preservation letter has finally been sent to Infantino and 18 other FIFA executives, demanding that they retain all data, communications, and electronic messages as potential evidence for future legal proceedings.
The letter also targets Joshua Kushner’s investment firm, JP Morgan, and Open Economics over their association with the shelved proposal.
The situation came up after it was revealed last week through various media reports that Infantino had an undeclared plan to establish a FIFA-owned subsidiary worth $20 billion, which would sell shares in the profits of future World Cups to private investors. According to the plan, each of FIFA’s 211 member federations would receive a one-time payment of $20 million before mid-September as compensation. However, the proposal resulted in anger all over the world, and UEFA even announced that it would boycott all FIFA competitions.
Infantino had to abandon the plan on Saturday morning due to huge criticism, including the resignation of the top advisor of his presidency and the condemnation from most European countries. FIFA’s chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, was very angry and stated that his employees were deceived by their boss.
This casts Infantino’s expected re-election in March 2027 into serious doubt. UEFA indicated that on Saturday, August 1, that Infantino had “lost the confidence of world soccer” and that “no option should be off the table.
The Football Association of Wales has already rescinded its backing for his bid to be re-elected. Infantino, who stepped out of the World Cup final two weeks ago confident that he was on the path to securing a fourth term, is faced with an uncertain future, with his African and South American stronghold losing faith in him.
2026-08-03 18:02:00
