Just when you thought Uefa was backing down, they've gone and upped the ante. In a move that overshadowed the Champions League draw in Monte Carlo - because nothing says 'football diplomacy' like a potential criminal prosecution - Uefa announced it's preparing to file a legal complaint against Gianni Infantino in Switzerland, alleging 'criminal mismanagement' over the failed World Cup sell-off plan.

This comes hot on the heels of Uefa's decision to withdraw a boycott threat, which had the Guardian on Wednesday reporting that European teams will now play in the Under-20 Women's World Cup and senior Women's World Cup qualifiers. But don't mistake that for surrender. Uefa has merely swapped one battlefield for another, and this one involves lawyers.

The first salvo: seeking disclosure in the US of documents tied to the abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal. In a 56-page document sent to three US courts, Uefa describes FFE's 'absurdly low enterprise value of only approximately $20bn' (£14.7bn). That valuation, if it had gone through, would have let Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital buy 21% of future Fifa revenues in perpetuity for $4.2bn. A steal, really - if you're the one stealing.

Uefa's concerns were first aired on 6 August, when the Guardian revealed it was commissioning an independent valuation of FFE. The worry? Infantino was selling off football's crown jewels on the cheap, with Fifa's sales deck notably lacking any info on the valuation process or evidence of a competitive tender. As one source put it, 'We need to find out if they were selling the World Cup at a knockdown price.'

And the numbers back up the suspicion. Fifa's revenue for the four-year cycle ending with this summer's World Cup was $15bn, leading market analysts to suggest $20bn was lowballing it - especially since the proposal didn't seem to prevent expansion or new tournaments. Kushner's subsequent purchase of the LA Lakers with Bob Iger for $12.5bn only added fuel, convincing Uefa that Thrive Capital got a sweetheart deal. Plus, there's the suspicion Infantino was lining up a cushy role as FFE's chair, worth tens of millions of pounds a year, after he steps down as Fifa president - which he plans to do in 2031 if he wins another term.

Infantino's not going quietly, either. He's already in campaign mode, having attended a Caribbean Football Union meeting in the Dominican Republic last weekend where he suddenly approved several funding projects. Uefa, thwarted in its requests for documents, has now taken the legal route, filing in New York, Florida, and Colorado to get papers for Swiss courts.

But here's the kicker: Uefa's legal gambit is only half the battle. It's also trying to rally Fifa members to oust Infantino in March's presidential election. And while Uefa publicly insists his race is run, privately, senior figures admit they're struggling to turn member associations outside Europe against him. Several FAs have said it might take evidence of criminal activity - or at least proof Infantino would have been personally enriched - to make them switch sides.

History suggests the rebels have a point. Fifa loves to call itself a democracy, but in the past 52 years, there have been only three permanent presidents. The last to lose a vote was Sir Stanley Rous in 1974. His conqueror, João Havelange, resigned after 24 years and was later found to have taken bribes. Sepp Blatter stood down amid an FBI investigation in 2015 that led to over 20 criminal convictions in the US. As for the Swiss authorities? They've historically turned a blind eye to Fifa corruption - so don't hold your breath for them to save the day. But hey, at least Uefa's trying.