European soccer body UEFA warns FIFA of legal action over Infantino's failed World Cup sell-off plan

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — European soccer body UEFA has threatened FIFA with legal action over Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell a stake in future World Cup profits to private investors, and said any potential evidence should not be destroyed.

Infantino’s secretive proposal to raise $4.2 billion from investors including the New York investment firm of Joshua Kushner was dropped early Saturday, days after the revelation in media reports provoked a global furor.

UEFA led the backlash and on Thursday its 55 member federations met to agree boycotting all FIFA events and competitions while the proposal was active.

Now lawyers for UEFA have informed FIFA that the European body is “actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints ... arising out of and in connection with the FFE (FIFA Forward Enterprise) plan proposed by FIFA and all related matters.”

The letter dated Friday from the legal firm Dechert in New York was seen Monday by The Associated Press.

The letter named 18 FIFA executives who it said should retain data, documents and electronic messages as potential evidence.

“UEFA puts you on formal notice that any destruction, deletion, alteration, concealment, or loss of relevant materials following receipt of this notice — or following any earlier date on which you were, or reasonably should have been, aware that proceedings were anticipated — may constitute spoliation of evidence,” the letter said.

On Saturday, UEFA signaled it wants to end Infantino’s decade-long presidency, saying he had lost the confidence of world soccer and that “no option should be off the table.”

Hours earlier, Infantino withdrew the divisive proposal that offered FIFA’s 211 member federations one-off payments of $20 million each with a mid-September deadline to accept.

The FFE spin-off valued by FIFA at $20 billion would have taken control of the soccer body’s money-making commercial and tournament operations. The 211 members already effectively own the Zurich-based not-for-profit governing body.

It was the project of just one man, FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour said in a stinging statement Friday to the AP which said staff felt deceived by their boss Infantino.

Legal proceedings are “reasonably anticipated,” UEFA’s lawyer Andrew J. Levander wrote, citing the belief of soccer stakeholders that the plan was “fundamentally incompatible with the proper governance of football.”

UEFA has been most outspoken against its former employee Infantino while the Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF, the North and Central American and Caribbean soccer body, also have made strong statements to oppose Infantino’s plan.

Infantino has most support from his traditional base in Africa, while South America’s CONMEBOL is relying on him to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams from 48. That would give more hosting games to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, the home country of CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez.

The private equity plan has provoked a stunning turnaround in fortunes for Infantino who left New York after the World Cup final two weeks ago seemingly a lock to be re-elected unopposed next March for a fourth and final term in office through 2031. The spin-off operation could have created a commissioner-like role for him beyond 2031 paying much more than his current $6 million annual salary and bonus deal as president.

FIFA briefed at the World Cup that Infantino had got pledged letters of support from about 200 of the 211 member federations.

Those letters are now likely being withdrawn across Europe with the Wales federation the first to announce its reversal.

The candidate deadline is Nov. 18 for an election exactly four months later in Morocco, one of Infantino's strongest allies and a co-host of the 2030 tournament with Spain and Portugal.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and AP World Cup coverage

FILE - FIFA President Gianni Infantino, right, talks to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin during the FIFA 75th Congress at the Conmebol Convention Center in Luque, Paraguay, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Calistro, File)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian planes dropped eight powerful glide bombs in a span of 90 minutes on residential districts of the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing one person and wounding dozens of others, regional chief Ivan Fedorov said Monday.

Russia has used glide bombs to smash Ukrainian towns and cities since it invaded its neighbor more than four years ago. The weapons are Soviet-era bombs retrofitted with guidance systems and can carry up to 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds) of explosives, leaving huge craters. Ukraine has no effective countermeasures against them.

The Sunday evening onslaught on Zaporizhzhia killed a 71-year-old woman and wounded 31 people, including a 16-year-old girl, as the bombs damaged 22 apartment buildings in four districts of the city, Fedorov said.

Other large-scale damage of civilian areas of Ukraine has resulted from Russian ballistic missiles, and late Sunday President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made yet another urgent plea to other countries to send Ukraine more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems.

Only Patriot interceptors can reliably stop ballistic missiles, but they are in short supply due to the Iran war.

“The world has Patriot missiles. What matters now is for our partners to make the political decision to provide the necessary packages,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “The United States knows what we need. Europe knows what we need. Anti-ballistic missiles must protect people — not sit in stockpiles.”

U.S. President Donald Trump last week appeared to back off from his earlier commitment to give Ukraine a license to make Patriots itself. He said Friday that the licensing matter is still under discussion and said he hasn’t made a final decision.

Zelenskyy has suggested an alternative to Trump whereby Elon Musk allows Ukraine to use Starlink satellites to target ballistic missile launch sites inside Russia. Officials haven't publicly said whether that is being considered. At this point do we just assume that everyone knows who Elon Musk is? Or does he need a descriptor? Tech entrepreneur or similar?

Russia attacked Ukraine with 181 long-range strike drones overnight from Sunday to Monday, according to the Ukrainian air force. It said air defenses jammed and intercepted 163 drones, but 14 caused damage at 13 locations.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces struck four bulk carriers carrying cargo for the Ukrainian armed forces, including three in waters of the Black Sea and one in the port of Mykolaiv, but provided no further information.

Meanwhile, three people were killed and two were wounded in Kyiv's overnight attack on Ukraine’s illegally annexed Crimea, the peninsula’s Russian-installed head Sergei Aksyonov said. He gave no further details.

Ukrainian also drones struck another major warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online shopping company, as part of a campaign that has hit more than a dozen of the retailer’s distribution hubs and caused severe disruption to its business.

A Wildberries warehouse in the Vladimir region east of Moscow caught fire in the latest attack, the company said Monday.

Three people were injured, Vladimir Gov. Alexander Avdeyev said.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday reported that its air defenses overnight intercepted 131 Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions, as well as annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A burned car is seen after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)