New York court clears UEFA to seek FIFA documents from JP Morgan and Thrive Capital

A New York federal court has cleared UEFA to gather evidence from JP Morgan and Thrive Capital in its drive to remove FIFA President Gianni Infantino from office, after Judge Jeannette Vargas on Thursday rejected a bid by two US FIFA subsidiaries to block the discovery process.

UEFA filed for discovery in August, seeking documents tied to Infantino's so-called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal — a plan, made public in July, to allow private investors to purchase minority stakes in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions. Three continental soccer confederations rejected it and UEFA threatened to boycott future FIFA tournaments. Infantino was eventually forced to abandon the plan in August.

Thrive Capital, whose discovery UEFA now has the right to pursue, is owned by Joshua Kushner — brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, and son of US Ambassador to France Charles Kushner. JP Morgan is the other target of UEFA's document requests.

In her eight-page ruling issued from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Vargas wrote that the two US FIFA parties had no "direct, substantial and legally protectable interest" in the case. Vargas stated that nothing in the record indicated that the US FIFA parties, or even FIFA itself, would be parties in the contemplated criminal proceedings.

UEFA has said it will file a criminal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland if its evidence-gathering uncovers financial wrongdoing. FIFA's 211 member federations had been offered $20 million each to approve the FFE project. FIFA lawyers noted after the ruling that "no documents are required to be produced" at this stage, as the court has not addressed the merits of UEFA's application.

Infantino, in his 11th year as FIFA president, plans to run for reelection. Any challenger must declare candidacy by Wednesday, 18 November. So far only Japan's Kohzo Tashima, a FIFA council member since 2016, has declared. UEFA is reported to be seeking former Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger to stand against Infantino.