Embattled FIFA boss Gianni Infantino abruptly pulled out of a swanky confab for the Wall Street elite amid UEFA’s legal threats over his botched sell-off deal with billionaire Joshua Kushner, The Post can reveal.
The Swiss sports suit axed a planned Friday night appearance at the Milken Hamptons Dialogues, where he had been slated to deliver an after-dinner speech to uber-wealthy attendees, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Infantino pulled the plug on his US trip once he learned early this week that UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, planned to subpoena Kushner and FIFA’s Florida offices — before the legal moves hit the docket — the insiders said.
“It is clear that Infantino wants to continue to cozy up to Wall Street,” said one global football insider. “But investors who had his back are growing weary not just by the onslaught of negative media coverage, but more significantly the possibility that the courts will look into their businesses.”
FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, denied Infantino’s cancellation was tied to the escalating legal war, which could lead to charges against him and may put Kushner’s corporate secrets in the public domain.
“The FIFA president is currently in Asia,” a FIFA spokesperson said Friday. “Mr. Infantino informed organizers earlier this week that he was unable to attend, so yesterday’s court filings in the United States had certainly no relevance to his decision.”
The Hamptons schmooze-fest where Infantino had been set to speak is a boutique spin-off of the Milken Institute Global Conference, a shindig for the mega-rich held every May in Los Angeles.
Infantino has been flying worldwide for talks with national federations to shore up his vulnerable political position, using a private jet laid on by Qatar, flight records and his own public appearances show.
As of Friday, he was holed up in the Doha, flight records reviewed by The Post show.
UEFA on Thursday asked a Manhattan federal judge for permission to force Kushner and his venture capital firm, Thrive Capital, to turn over documents and sit for depositions. It also sought permission to go after testimony and FIFA docs in Florida.
The Post exclusively broke the news last month that FIFA scrapped a $20 billion plan to sell a slice of the game to Kushner’s Thrive Capital. The venture capitalist is the younger brother of President Trump’s son-in-law and former senior White House adviser Jared Kushner.
UEFA bosses want to seek evidence for a possible criminal case in Switzerland under a US legal process known as discovery. Both UEFA and FIFA have their headquarters in the Alpine nation.
“One man is continuing to hold the game hostage. Even his supporters now know we’re better off without him,” said one source briefed on the matter. “Instead of continuing to scheme, he should do the right thing, put everyone out of their misery and resign.”
UEFA’s Thursday court filing alleged Kushner and Infantino discussed the underlying concept for nearly a year before the terms sheet was signed
It claims the roots of the proposal stretch back to July 2025, when Kushner approached former Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei at the Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.
UEFA claims that the arrangement was part of a deeply flawed process in which FIFA’s own governing bodies and senior executives were kept in the dark while Infantino and a tight group of advisers developed the proposal.
The plan finally burst into public view on July 28, when Infantino unveiled a new FIFA-controlled commercial subsidiary that aimed to raise about $4.2 billion from investors.
The transaction implied a valuation of roughly $20 billion.
But FIFA’s bankers and dealmakers badly misread the mood in global soccer.
The Post broke the news of an immediate revolt, with all 55 UEFA member nations rejecting it and threatening to sit out FIFA competitions unless the deal was scrapped.
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, or CONCACAF, and the Asian Football Confederation also opposed the process while the backlash spread inside Infantino’s own organization.
Kushner recently made headlines for teaming up with ex-Disney boss Bob Iger to lead a group of investors that is set to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers for more than $12 billion.
The Post has sought comment from UEFA, Thrive Capital and the Milken Institute.
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