UEFA accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of “crossing a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross” it emerged that he is drawing up plans to sell stakes in the World Cup sold to private investors.
An initial report by the Times revealed that the scheme would see a company put together to oversee FIFA’s top competitions in the men’s and women’s games, including the World Cup and the Club World Cup. The plan could see Infantino earn tens of millions and raise the possibility of the World Cup and Club World Cup being held more often than every four years.
Under the scheme, FIFA’s 211 member associations would receive a stake that they could either keep or sell to generate income. In addition, it is claimed that Infantino, set to be re-elected unopposed until 2031, would be positioned to become commissioner of the company after his final term as president comes to a close.
A majority stake in the company would be owned by FIFA, with private investors taking on around 20 to 30 per cent and the member nations each possessing a small stake. The plan is reported to have already been discussed among senior FIFA officials and potential stakeholders.
Persons close to the current US presidential administration are reported to have been consulted regarding the scheme and, following initial reports, FIFA confirmed to The Times that the plan is under consideration, with Joshua Kushner — brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared — the proposed lead investor. American multinational banking firm JP Morgan has also been floated as a potential investor.
UEFA slams Infantino plans
UEFA, European football’s governing body, has been hugely critical of Infantino in recent times. It previously accused him of “crossing a red line” in coming to the “incomprehensible and unjustifiable” to suspend United States striker Folarin Balogun’s ban for their World Cup last-16 tie with Belgium following apparent pressure from US president Donald Trump.
And it did not hold back in criticising him again on Tuesday.
A statement from UEFA read: “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross. UEFA takes it extremely seriously. So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game.
“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.”
In a later statement confirming the plans: “In accordance with its mandate, the FIFA administration is exploring the concept of bringing together FIFA’s commercial rights – spanning broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing, and licensing – with the operational delivery of FIFA tournaments through the creation of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE). A consultation process has begun following the receipt of a proposal that aims to unlock the full potential of FIFA’s broadcast rights and sponsorships across all of its tournament portfolio in men’s, women’s and youth football.
Central to this would be a repositioning of FIFA Forward, FIFA’s flagship development programme, which aims to increase funding per FIFA Member Association (MA) from USD 8 million to USD 20 million for the 2027-30 cycle and grow steadily thereafter cycle-on-cycle. This funding would support infrastructure, coaching, national teams, competitions, grassroots football and the women’s game.
The process follows an address by FIFA President Gianni Infantino to the FIFA Council and FIFA Member Associations on the eve of the FIFA World Cup 2026 final in New York, where he reiterated his intention to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity that FIFA has”, a position that had already been outlined in his speech to the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada, in April 2026.
Infantino said: “Football is the world’s most popular sport and an extraordinary engine of human and social development. Parts of the game have turned that popularity into remarkable commercial value – and we celebrate that success and want it to continue, because it lifts the whole game. Our job is to make sure the rest of football grows with it: FIFA exists to support sustainable, inclusive development in every corner of the world.
“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. Our next stage of growth needs a structure built for it, one where the commercial side of the game operates as a focused, dedicated business, with its value shared more and better all around the world. Every FIFA Member Association should have an opportunity to seek a fair share of the available funding to shape its own future, deciding for itself rather than relying on others. This is about the democratisation of football worldwide.
“We intend to invest heavily even in the smallest or most remote parts of the footballing world, places that are too often passed over. Every FIFA Member Association, whatever its size, resources, or geographic location will have a voice and the opportunity to determine its own course. Football has become a truly global game and so the benefits must be felt globally.”
The statement continued: “In a similar way to other sports governing bodies with dedicated commercial subsidiaries, FIFA will invite third parties to make minority, non-controlling investments in FFE.
“Any such investors would be selected against clear long-term, governance, and strategic criteria. They would represent a geographically diversified group that reflects the global nature of the game, acting as minority, long-term partners that could contribute capital and commercial expertise in support of FIFA’s mission to grow the global game. FIFA would retain sole control of FFE via majority board representation and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, the international match calendar and all regulatory and sporting decisions.
“While FIFA regularly creates subsidiaries for specific ventures unilaterally, FIFA is now engaging the MAs and the FIFA Council in this instance given its strategic importance. In keeping with the democratic processes of FIFA, the FIFA administration will launch the new structure only if a majority of the MAs decide to support it, as well as approval of the required regulatory updates by the FIFA Council.
“Subject to these final agreements and required approvals, Thrive Eternal, a permanent capital holding company, is expected to lead the proposed investor group for FFE. Greg Maffei, CEO of BANN Ventures and formerly President and CEO of Liberty Media during its acquisition and ownership of Formula One, has been a key commercial adviser and will remain involved in the establishment of FFE in this next phase.
“As part of this process, J.P. Morgan has been engaged to work alongside FIFA, while other advisers such as OpenEconomics are engaging with prospective long-term investors. The process is focused on assembling a geographically diversified investor group that reflects the global nature of FIFA and the game; expressions of interest to date include investors from across every major region of the world: Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa.
“The FIFA President and the FIFA administration have a duty to control the development of this project. Outside investors will have only a minority stake in FFE and will not play any operational role. Equally, they are investing in a subsidiary of FIFA, and not in FIFA itself. For FIFA, nothing changes.”
Plans raise possibility of further World Cup expansion
The idea of giving shares to member associations is viewed as a method of ensuring the plans receive approval from the FIFA congress and council, as for smaller nations the shares would be much more valuable than their annual revenue.
FIFA’s expected revenue for the cycle spanning 2022-26 is anticipated to be $15billion, with much of that stemming from the sale of TV rights for the World Cup as well as funds from sponsorship and ticket and hospitality sales.
After expanding the World Cup from 32 teams to the 48 that contested this year’s tournament, Infantino said this month that a proposal from South America to expand to 64 teams would be looked at. Given the huge amounts of income generated from this year’s competition, private investors would clearly view the World Cup as attractive due to the possibility of expansion or staging the tournament more regularly.
However, one of the biggest winners from the plan coming to fruition would be Infantino. As commissioner or CEO of the new company, he would be expected to command an annual salary akin to that of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who earns around $64m a year. Infantino’s current approximate salary is $6m.
You Should Also Read
