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See the full story · 11 sourcesControversial plans to sell stakes in the FIFA World Cup to private investors have sparked a furious response from football authorities and politicians.
UEFA, the body that governs European football, took the unprecedented step of releasing a statement condemning FIFA’s plan, which involves creating a new entity that would house the commercial rights to its men’s and women’s tournaments. The World Cup “is not FIFA’s to sell,” said UEFA.
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JP Morgan Chase, the bank that financed the failed breakaway European Super League in 2021, is working with FIFA to create the business, which is being valued at around $20B, per various reports. Though the World Cup is not a commercial enterprise, the formation of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) would allow it to be exploited by private investors.
FIFA confirmed the plan to create FFE and said it would be the controlling shareholder, but the controversial governing body hopes to raise $4.2B by “carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests.”
Thrive Capital, an investment firm led by Joshua Kusher, the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been approached about investing, it is reported. We have contacted Thrive for comment.
Investigations in the Financial Times and The Times newspapers first revealed the FFE plan, which comes on the back of the recent World Cup.
New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham was among notable names slamming FFE, writing that the World Cup is “not a product, and that “once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out.” Even Sepp Blatter, the disgraced predecessor of FIFA President Gianni Infantino, wrote on social media: “The close relationship between the FIFA President and the US President has reached a financial dimension that is deeply damaging football. No one has the right to sell our game.”
Under-fire FIFA President Infantino stands to personally make millions from the deal by becoming its commissioner after his expected third term at football’s governing body expires in 2031, the Times reported. We have contacted FIFA for comment.
Infantino said FFE would see “the commercial side of the game [operate] as a focused, dedicated business, with its value shared more and better all around the world,” with FIFA claiming more than $10B would be redistributed back to its 211 member associations following the deals.
The recent World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico was heavily criticized in some quarters for the implementation of mandatory drinks breaks, which effectively divided matches into quarters rather than the traditional halves, for Trump’s intervention into the suspension of USMNT player Folarin Balogun and the extended half-time break in the final to allow for musical performances. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin boycotted the final in response to the various issues.
FIFA made record revenues from the tournament, which it has touted publicly. Critics say finances are being put before the best interests of the game.
UEFA considers World Cup boycott
It has been reported today that UEFA members are meeting to discuss their response to FIFA’s plan, with a boycott of the World Cup one serious option on the table.
While UEFA cannot stop it moving ahead, it is the strongest continental body in football with many of the world’s top international teams hailing from the continent.
Of the eight quarter finalists at the World Cup, six were UEFA members, and Spain won the tournament. There were similar statistics in the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, and a World Cup without European participation would be a huge commercial and political hit to FIFA. The next World Cup is due to be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with other games held in South America.
In its statement in response to FFE, UEFA said: “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross. UEFA takes it extremely seriously. The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”
European dominance of world football has been a sore point for many years, and the Swiss-born Infantino has consolidated his power base by redirecting more funding and support to Africa, the Americas and Asia. It is expected that FFE would need to be ratified by a majority of FIFA members, though there’s no word on when or how the vote will take shape.
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