Fifa has accused Uefa of waging a "misinformation campaign" and trying to influence the race for its presidency as world football's governing body urged a US court to reject a discovery request linked to a controversial investment proposal.

Last month, Uefa asked a US federal court for permission to obtain testimony and documents for use in a planned criminal complaint in Switzerland against Fifa president Gianni Infantino over a now-abandoned plan to transfer World Cup commercial rights into a subsidiary called Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE).

In its response to the filing on Monday, Fifa said Uefa's brief contained "numerous false or misleading statements about Fifa and Infantino".

"With no basis whatsoever, Uefa suggests that Mr Infantino sought to profit personally from the FFE proposal," Fifa said in a filing in the Southern district of Florida, opposing Uefa’s motion for discovery.

Uefa alleged Infantino developed the proposal in secret with a small group of advisers and investors, bypassing Fifa's normal governance processes and failing to consult Fifa's council, regional confederations or member associations.

Uefa said in a legal filing that investors would have paid US$4.2 billion for a stake in Fifa Forward Enterprise, valuing the business at about US$20 billion.

It added that the valuation significantly undervalued Fifa's commercial rights and alleged it was not subjected to an open auction or tested by an independent valuer.

The FFE project was abandoned in July following opposition from confederations, including Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation, over a lack of consultation, with the dispute fuelling demands for changes to Fifa's governance.

Last week, Infantino wrote to all 211 member associations proposing an independent review of the governing body's decision-making processes.

The Swiss administrator is up for reelection in March, with Fifa alleging that Uefa's legal filings were an attempt to influence that election.

"Just before Fifa's election, Uefa filed this 1782 Application (and three others) spreading misinformation regarding Mr Infantino," Fifa said.

"This court should reject any attempt to influence Fifa’s presidential election based on these grounds." (Reuters)




Edited by Tony Sabine