Uefa has dramatically escalated its campaign to remove Gianni Infantino, taking the first legal steps toward filing a criminal complaint against the Fifa president.

Lawyers for European football's governing body have lodged a request with a US court seeking a raft of documents and correspondence relating to the now-abandoned World Cup sell-off, material that could be used to support proceedings in Switzerland, where both Fifa and Uefa are headquartered.

Among the facts Uefa says it is trying to establish is who inside and outside Fifa knew about the plan, and how anyone might have stood to gain from it.

"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, seen by City AM, states.

The filing adds: "Swiss counsel has confirmed, on the factual record described in this Application, that the proceeding is within reasonable contemplation for purposes of Swiss law and Uefa has standing, as a complainant, to file a criminal complaint for criminal mismanagement against Infantino and potentially other Fifa officials as may be warranted."

According to the filing, Swiss law stipulates that such offences, if proven, carry a prison term of up to three years – or five years "if the offender acts with the intention of securing an unlawful gain for themselves or another".

The Swiss legal system has form in policing football governance: Swiss prosecutors opened a broad criminal investigation into Fifa in 2015 following the arrest of Fifa officials in Zurich, a probe that ultimately led to charges against former Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke and, separately, to a 2020 criminal proceeding opened against Infantino over undisclosed meetings with the Swiss attorney general – a case Swiss prosecutors later closed. Article 158, which targets those who, in breach of their duties, cause or fail to prevent damage to an organisation under their management, is the same provision historically applied in Swiss cases involving sports federations, including proceedings stemming from the 2015 Fifa scandal that toppled longtime president Sepp Blatter, in whose downfall Uefa also played a leading role.

Uefa seeks messages from Infantino, Kushner and Maffei

Infantino has resisted calls to resign since details emerged of his plan to create a new company, Fifa Forward Enterprise, which would hold the commercial rights to the World Cup and other tournaments and sell minority stakes totalling more than $4bn to investors including Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Trump's son-in-law.

The discovery request was filed on Uefa's behalf in a district court in Florida, where Fifa's main US offices are based. It covers communications between officials and Infantino, Kushner, and Greg Maffei, the former Liberty Media boss who acted as an advisor on the FFE deal.

The filing says Uefa wants to ascertain what process was undertaken in planning to establish FFE, how it was valued, and how buyers including Kushner's Thrive Eternal vehicle were identified.

"Third, the discovery bears on the intent element and on the identity of the beneficiaries of the transaction," it adds.

"Communications within Fifa Americas and FWC2026 and between their personnel and Infantino, Maffei, and other advisors and participants in the scheme concerning anticipated returns to the investor group, personal compensation or benefits to Fifa officials, and the political or reputational positioning of the transaction are directly probative of whether the transaction was structured for the benefit of Fifa and its 211 member associations or for the benefit of a defined group of outside investors and the Fifa officials who negotiated with them."

Uefa has been Infantino's most vocal critic since the FFE plan emerged, and voted to boycott future Fifa events, including World Cups, until the plan was withdrawn and assurances were given that it would not be resurrected. The standoff leaves world football facing its deepest governance schism since the 2015 crisis, with the 2026 World Cup – co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico and the first 48-team edition – due to kick off in North America, and no published resolution between the two bodies. Under Fifa's statutes, Uefa's 55 member associations represent a substantial voting bloc in any future presidential contest, though Infantino was re-elected unopposed in 2023.