UEFA threatens Gianni Infantino, Josh Kushner with legal action: Report

UEFA has reportedly threatened FIFA President Gianni Infantino with legal action over his World Cup sell-off plan, warning him not to destroy any material relating to it.

The European football governing body has also written to Joshua Kushner, Greg Maffei, JP Morgan, and OpenEconomics, stating it is “actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints” arising from the now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) venture, British daily The Telegraph reported on Sunday.

The report came a day after UEFA said FIFA's current leadership has lost the confidence of much of the football community, while welcoming the world governing body's decision to withdraw controversial plans to sell a stake in its competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, to private investors.

"The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA's confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” UEFA, European football’s governing body, said in a statement on Saturday.

UEFA added that the proposal had been "unanimously rejected" by its member associations, as well as by "many other federations and confederations of all sizes around the world."

The organization thanked fans, leagues, clubs, players, national associations, and confederations, as well as political leaders and commentators, for opposing the proposal and showing Infantino that “football is not for sale.”

Announcing the initiative last week, FIFA named Josh Kushner, whose investment firm, Thrive Eternal, was identified as the prospective lead investor in the group seeking to establish FIFA Football Entertainment (FFE). Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.

Also joining the proposed consortium is Greg Maffei, chief executive of Bann Ventures and a longtime media executive who previously served as president and CEO of Liberty Media during its acquisition and ownership of Formula One.

FIFA also named JPMorgan and OpenEconomics among the organizations supporting the search for prospective investors.