'In Pan-ti-no (Chairman) Criminal Complaint' UEFA Declares Legal Battle with FIFA... FIFA Retorts "Stop Baseless Defamation"

*This content was translated by AI.

It is an endless mudslinging fight. The conflict between the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has escalated to include criminal complaints and legal battles.

The British media outlet 'BBC' reported on the 4th (Korea time), "FIFA strongly condemned UEFA for launching a defamation campaign targeting FIFA and its leadership in response to lawsuits over Gianni In Pan-ti-no (Chairman)'s efforts to sell World Cup shares."

According to the media, UEFA recently filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court demanding the disclosure of internal documents and evidence from FIFA. This move is part of preparations for criminal charges against FIFA for allegedly attempting to illegally transfer World Cup assets at bargain prices. Additionally, the UEFA side claims that In Pan-ti-no (Chairman) intentionally undervalued the World Cup's worth at approximately 15 billion pounds (about 26.5 trillion won) without going through internal approval procedures.

In response, FIFA rebutted UEFA through official documents submitted to a U.S. court. FIFA stated, "UEFA's claims are legally flawed," and added, "UEFA is demanding disclosure of evidence on matters beyond its authority in order to assist non-existent foreign criminal proceedings."

FIFA has recently faced difficulties over rumors regarding the sale of World Cup shares. However, FIFA clarified that the project was merely a proposal. As UEFA's attacks intensified, FIFA criticized, "Instead of participating in democratic procedures, UEFA began a weeks-long campaign to slander and defame FIFA leadership by issuing press releases."

Furthermore, FIFA pointed out, "UEFA's true aim is to prevent developing countries from gaining the financial strength needed to compete with European elites. Through this project, FIFA intends to use raised funds to help smaller member nations develop football. However, UEFA fears that if more players remain in their domestic leagues and play for national teams, Europe's market dominance will eventually weaken."

Previously, In Pan-ti-no (Chairman) attempted to establish a new corporation to sell commercial rights shares of FIFA tournaments. The plan was to secure an investment of 4.2 billion dollars (approximately 5.6 trillion won) from Joshua Kushner of the venture capital firm Thrive, which is linked to the family of U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law. However, due to strong opposition from UEFA, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), along with threats of tournament boycotts, the plan was scrapped. At that time, a major backlash occurred, including the sudden dismissal of Kevin Lamoer, FIFA's Chief Operating Officer (COO), who had voiced opposition.

UEFA appeared to be bringing the situation under control by announcing its intention to withdraw from boycotting the U-20 Women's World Cup scheduled for next month in Poland to prevent harm to young players. However, it has now initiated legal proceedings to hold In Pan-ti-no (Chairman) criminally accountable, prompting FIFA to label this as a smear campaign and retaliate.

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*This content was translated by AI.