Donald Trump’s name is nowhere on UEFA’s latest request to a US federal court.

Yet one of the most controversial battles in world football has once again arrived unusually close to the US president’s orbit.

European football’s governing body is seeking access to evidence held by Thrive Capital and its founder Josh Kushner as UEFA explores a potential criminal case in Switzerland against FIFA president Gianni Infantino over the abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise project.

Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a prominent figure in the president’s political and diplomatic circle.

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There is no evidence that Donald Trump or Jared Kushner participated in the FIFA transaction, and UEFA has not accused Josh Kushner or Thrive of wrongdoing. That distinction is crucial.

But the involvement of a company run by someone so closely connected to Trump’s family adds another remarkable layer to a period in which the relationship between Washington and FIFA has already attracted intense scrutiny.

UEFA wants Kushner’s documents

The latest development came in a Manhattan federal court.

According to Reuters reporting published on September 11, UEFA urged the court to reject attempts by FIFA’s American subsidiaries to intervene in its effort to obtain evidence from Josh Kushner and Thrive Capital.

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UEFA is using a US legal procedure to seek documents and testimony that could potentially be used in proceedings elsewhere.

The material being requested concerns FIFA Forward Enterprise, commonly known as FFE, an ambitious plan promoted by Infantino that would have created a new commercial company containing important rights linked to FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.

Thrive Capital was expected to become the leading private investor.

Under the proposal, investors would have committed up to approximately $4.2 billion for a minority interest in the business, which was being valued at roughly $20 billion. FIFA argued that the arrangement could dramatically increase development funding for its 211 member associations.

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Opponents saw something very different.

UEFA and other critics questioned the valuation, the process by which the plan had been developed and the implications of allowing private investors to take an economic stake in commercial operations connected with football’s biggest tournament.

The proposal eventually collapsed.

An extraordinary list of information could now be exposed

The documents UEFA is pursuing make the story particularly interesting.

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According to Axios, UEFA’s request includes communications with FIFA officials, financial projections, valuation material, term sheets, side agreements and information identifying potential investors or partners in the proposed transaction.

UEFA has made clear that neither Kushner nor Thrive is currently viewed as a prospective defendant.

Instead, European football officials believe the company may possess information relevant to determining how the deal was constructed and whether Infantino’s handling of FIFA assets could form the basis of proceedings in Switzerland.

That is where the controversy becomes potentially serious for FIFA’s president.

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UEFA has been exploring allegations of criminal mismanagement linked to the failed deal. No court has found Infantino guilty of such conduct, and FIFA strongly disputes the premise behind UEFA’s legal efforts.

FIFA has described the action as part of a “smear campaign” against the organisation and its leadership and has challenged UEFA’s attempts to gather evidence through American courts.

The fight is therefore no longer merely political.

Lawyers, federal courts and potential subpoenas are now involved.

Kushner admits he underestimated football

Josh Kushner has also broken his silence.

The Thrive Capital founder defended the reasoning behind the proposed investment but acknowledged that his company had failed to understand the intensity of the political struggle surrounding FIFA.

“Had we known what this would devolve into, we would not have gotten involved,” Kushner said in comments first reported by Axios.

He argued that money in world football had historically been concentrated in a relatively small number of countries and that FFE was intended to generate substantially more investment for less developed football nations.

Kushner also insisted that FIFA’s member associations would ultimately have been given a vote on the proposal.

UEFA has disputed aspects of that description of the process, while criticism of the project intensified rapidly enough for Infantino to abandon it shortly after details became public.

For Kushner, the episode has transformed what was intended to be a major private investment opportunity into an unwanted place inside one of football’s most bitter governance disputes.

For Trump watchers, however, the identity of that investor is difficult to overlook.

Another Trump connection around Infantino

The legal battle does not exist in isolation.

Infantino’s relationship with Trump has repeatedly become part of controversies surrounding FIFA over the past year.

Trump publicly acknowledged intervening with Infantino during the World Cup after United States striker Folarin Balogun received a red card, a case that later produced accusations that political influence had entered FIFA’s disciplinary process.

FairSquare has subsequently cited that episode, the FIFA Peace Prize awarded to Trump and other interactions between Infantino and the US president in complaints alleging breaches of political-neutrality rules. FIFA has rejected allegations that its president improperly subordinated the organisation to political interests.

Now a different Trump connection has appeared around another major controversy involving Infantino.

Again, the distinction matters: Josh Kushner’s relationship to Trump through his brother does not demonstrate presidential involvement in FIFA Forward Enterprise.

There is currently no evidence that Donald Trump helped construct the deal, influenced its valuation or played any role in Thrive’s discussions with FIFA.

But it means a project promoted by one of Trump’s closest allies in international sport was simultaneously being negotiated with an investment firm run by the brother of Trump’s son-in-law.

In an ordinary corporate transaction, that connection might attract little attention.

Around the current FIFA presidency, it is considerably more sensitive.

FIFA’s war with Europe is escalating

The dispute also arrives at a dangerous moment for Infantino.

UEFA has hardened its opposition to the FIFA president, while several major European football associations have withdrawn or reconsidered their support for his leadership.

France’s football federation recently announced it would no longer support Infantino’s re-election, with president Philippe Diallo accusing him of seriously damaging the image and unity of football.

Infantino nevertheless intends to seek another term.

That means the battle over FFE is unfolding at the same time as an increasingly bitter fight over who should control world football.

The American court proceedings could therefore matter far beyond one abandoned investment plan.

If UEFA succeeds in obtaining Thrive’s internal documents, European officials may gain access to previously private details about how FIFA valued its World Cup business, who discussed the transaction, what investors were promised and how negotiations developed behind closed doors.

Those documents may ultimately show nothing unlawful.

They could also become evidence in a much larger case.

A quiet Trump link inside football’s biggest power struggle

Trump himself is not a target of UEFA’s legal action.

Neither is Jared Kushner.

Even Josh Kushner has not been accused by UEFA of committing a crime.

Yet that is precisely what makes the episode such an unusual Trump story.

It is not another public appearance alongside Infantino, another World Cup ceremony or another presidential statement about football.

Instead, the connection sits inside the paperwork of an abandoned multibillion-dollar FIFA transaction that has helped push European and world football into open conflict.

UEFA now wants to see what Kushner’s company knows.

And as the fight over Infantino moves through American federal courts, one of the world’s most controversial sports administrators has once again found Donald Trump’s wider circle appearing remarkably close to the story.