UEFA has threatened FIFA with legal action over its failed plans to sell stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors, writing separate letters to FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Joshua Kushner, the American investor who was set to lead the deal.

A six-page letter, first reported by The Telegraph and seen by The Athletic, is addressed to Infantino and dated Friday, July 31. Within it, UEFA states it is considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints in connection with the proposals, and demands that all documents related to the plans not be destroyed.

The law firm writing on UEFA's behalf demands both Infantino personally and FIFA as an organisation "take immediate steps to identify, locate, and preserve all documents and electronically stored information" on the matter. They want all documents relating "to the conception, design, structure, governance, valuation, and implementation" of the plan, including "board papers, committee papers, strategy documents, financial models, valuations, pitch materials, due diligence reports, legal opinions, term sheets, letters of intent, investment agreements, shareholder agreements and all drafts."

The letter also requests the preservation of any correspondence involving a "FIFA officer, employee, committee member, consultant, or agent, or any FIFA member association, confederation, broadcaster, sponsor, or financial institution."

The $4.2 billion deal

FIFA announced plans on Tuesday to sell a significant minority stake to private investors in a new entity that it, as a non-profit organisation, was setting up to run its main events, such as the World Cups and Club World Cups. The new entity was called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE).

FIFA wanted to sell a fifth of FFE to an investor group led by Thrive Eternal — a U.S. investment fund run by Kushner, the brother of U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner — for $4.2 billion (£3.1bn).

The letter requests all documents are preserved relating to the proposed investment by Kushner's Thrive Eternal, as well as all documents relating to J.P. Morgan's engagement, including mandate letters, engagement terms, investor outreach materials, and communications with prospective investors.

Eighteen FIFA figures named

UEFA lists 18 FIFA figures who must "ensure that each of them specifically preserves all such materials in their possession." The list includes former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, now FIFA's chief of global football development, and former U.S. women's national team manager Jill Ellis, now FIFA's chief football officer.

The list does not presume or evidence any involvement or knowledge in the plans. It also includes Kevin Lamour, FIFA's chief operating officer, who put his job on the line on Friday by speaking out against the plan and accusing Infantino of blindsiding colleagues.

Kushner put on notice

A similar letter has been sent to Joshua Kushner. It reads: "We understand that Thrive Eternal has been publicly identified as the proposed anchor investor in FFE, and that you, as founder of Thrive Eternal, have been involved in that proposed investment. Thus, you and Thrive Eternal are required to take immediate steps to identify, locate, and preserve all documents and electronically stored information described in this Notice that are in your or Thrive Eternal's possession, custody, or control."

It continues: "These obligations arise independently of any internal retention policy you or Thrive Eternal maintain and supersede any routine document destruction or deletion policies that would otherwise apply."

Warning against spoliation

The letter to FIFA issues a stark warning: "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."

A spectacular collapse

FIFA and Infantino scrapped the proposals on Friday following significant backlash from across the football world. UEFA met on Thursday and announced that all 55 European members would boycott all FIFA competitions unless the proposals were abandoned. Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) both rejected the plans. Even Infantino's senior advisor, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned in protest.

FIFA initially expressed its intention to push on with the scheme and take it to a vote, but less than 24 hours later, it pulled the plug. An email sent by FIFA, albeit without Infantino's signature, acknowledged the climbdown: "It has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place. As a result, this proposal will not proceed."

Following FIFA's U-turn, UEFA released a statement on Saturday stating it and "other members of the football family" had lost confidence in Infantino, accusing the FIFA president of a "shabby, back room, opaque" deal.