FIFA wants to sell World Cup stakes to investors, UEFA furious
· Yahoo Sports
FIFA said on Tuesday it wants to run the World Cup and other events with a new $20 billion company set up with the help of private investors.
The governing body said it aims to raise $4.2 billion this year via a new entity FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) for its commercial and event operations such as the World Cup to expand development funding.
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The issue was first reported by The Times and Financial Times and drew instant sharp criticism from European body UEFA which insisted: “None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell."
a FIFA statement said that private investors can acquire minority stakes in the new entity for an expected $20 billion to help generate more than $10 billion to distribute among its 211 member federations, pending approval.
Members are to receive $20 million instead of originally planned $8 million in forward funding for the 2027-2030 cycle and that the sum would rise to $24 million for 2035-2038.
FIFA confirmed it was working with JP Morgan bank and that investors would include Joshua Kushner's company Thrive Eternal. Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner who is a son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump with whom Infantino has close ties.
FFE is to be a FIFA-owned and controlled subsidiary to consolidate its commercial and event operations from broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing, and licensing to operational delivery of FIFA events.
It said FIFA would retain sole control of FFE and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, match calendar, and all regulatory and sporting decisions.
FIFA said that the development funding was "based on an initial equity valuation of $20 billion by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests in FFE.
"All net benefits of FFE will be reinvested back into football worldwide," insisted FIFA, which has always been a none-profit organization for its members based in Switzerland.
UEFA, which has been at odds with Infantino before, such as at the recent World Cup when American player Folarin Balogun had a red card ban suspended by FIFA after Turmp intervened via a phone call to Infantino, would have none if it.
“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said.
"The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade - especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially."
Infantino, for his part, defended the investor scheme, saying in the statement: “This is about the democratization of football worldwide.
“As its global governing body, FIFA is responsible for making sure the game reaches every corner of the world, and that the value it creates supports federations and communities everywhere," he said.