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Uefa are weighing up a criminal complaint against Gianni Infantino after the Fifa president’s failed attempt to sell commercial stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

A 56-page document submitted by Uefa’s lawyers in a federal court in the United States, and reviewed by The Independent, says Uefa are “preparing to bring criminal claims in Switzerland against Infantino” for “criminal mismanagement” in relation to Fifa’s now-abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal.

According to the filing, Infantino’s quickly assembled plan to sell a 20 per cent stake in the World Cup to private investors for $4.2bn amounted to “an absurdly low enterprise value”. It also alleges that the Fifa president and others stood to benefit financially from a process that was “neither the product of an open, competitive auction, nor tested by any independent valuer”.

Uefa are accusing Infantino of “criminal mismanagement” and say the now-dropped World Cup sell-off proposals were a “vehicle for Infantino and a small circle” to profit financially.

“Uefa and its counsel are contemplating a Swiss criminal proceeding against Infantino and possibly other Fifa officials for criminal mismanagement under Article 158 of the Swiss Criminal Code, together with such further or alternative charges as the developed factual record may support,” the filing says. Fifa, a Swiss organisation headquartered in Zurich, declined to comment.

Uefa added: “Arising out of the secretive structuring, valuation, financing, and marketing of a transaction that inflicted direct and concrete injury on Fifa’s reputation, governance authority, and commercial relationships to the detriment of Fifa as well as its 211 members, including Uefa's 55 member associations.... this venture was a vehicle for Infantino and a small circle to acquire a permanent stake and otherwise profit from Fifa’s most valuable assets.”

The document was filed in Florida, where two Fifa entities — Fifa Americas and FWC2026 US — are based, and seeks documents and communications from both organisations relating to the “origination, development, internal discussion, and public announcement of the FFE proposal, including Fifa’s internal communications and discussions”.

Uefa are trying to establish whether Infantino and other senior Fifa figures breached Fifa’s own statutes and sidestepped its governance rules by hiding the FFE proposals from the Fifa Council and key stakeholders, including Uefa, and whether they did so “with a view to securing an unlawful gain for themselves or others”.

Infantino’s plan, which involved Thrive Capital founder Joshua Kushner — brother of US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law — as a lead investor, fell apart within days last month after Uefa threatened to boycott the World Cup and other Fifa competitions.

Uefa withdrew its boycott on Wednesday after saying it had received “assurances” that Fifa would not again try to sell stakes in its competitions. However, European football’s governing body had warned Infantino at the start of the month that it was “considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints” over the failed FFE plan.

Uefa is considering criminal proceedings against Fifa president Gianni Infantino in Switzerland over his plan to sell shares in the World Cup to private investors.

Infantino has stayed in office after apologising for “mistakes” linked to the proposals, but Kevin Lamour, Fifa’s former chief operating officer, who criticised the FFE plan and said Fifa staff had been “deceived” by its president, has since left the global governing body.

Uefa has spearheaded calls for Infantino to resign and said it had lost confidence in the Fifa president after he abandoned his World Cup stake-sale plan. The European governing body led the opposition to the FFE and accused Infantino in a statement of attempting to force through a “shabby, backroom, opaque deal”.