FIFA gave its 211 member organizations until mid-September to consider its proposal to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity” of its flagship tournament by selling stakes in the World Cup to interested investors.
But apparently, a significant portion of them don’t need that long to consider the proposal.
Over 50 associations rejected the plan during a virtual meeting Thursday, ESPN reported, and UEFA, the European soccer league that features powerhouse countries like the world champion Spanish team, England, the Netherlands, Germany and France, says that it will boycott all FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, if the plan goes through.
“UEFA and its 55 member associations stand as one. We unanimously and unequivocally reject FIFA’s proposal to transfer ownership interests in the World Cup and other FIFA competitions to private investors,” the group said in a statement.
“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product. It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies. It has been built over generations by players, national teams and supporters across every continent. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.
What was FIFA’s proposal?
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, with backing from investor Josh Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, who is married to President Trump’s daughter, and JPMorgan, dreamed up this plan to maximize revenue from the once-every-four-years soccer tournament.
The 2026 World Cup was a huge success, with the ostensibly non-profit organization reporting more than $15 billion in revenue during the entire 2023-2026 cycle that concluded with this year’s summer tournament in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
But the group is leaving money on the table, according to Infantino, and the new “opportunities we don’t use today” for investment in the sport could be used to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity that FIFA has” to reach its ultimate goal, which it says is to “support global football development.”
“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 (FIFA Forward Enterprise),” FIFA explained. FFE is a new, FIFA-owned and controlled subsidiary that consolidates the group’s current commercial and event operations.
But FIFA says it would retain sole control of FFE and exclusive authority over the tournament’s governance, so what exactly would the investors be buying? That’s just one of the questions UEFA and other critics are asking.
UEFA, others pushes back against FIFA proposal
FIFA is looking to raise as much as $4.2 billion in capital for the FFE and has already begun approaching investors, retaining JPMorgan as a strategic partner on the project.
FIFA’s plan would involve over $80 million in payouts to each FIFA member association between now and 2037. But Infantino and FIFA say that any organizations that resist the plan ahead of the September 19 acceptance deadline, they could be left out of revenue sharing should the plan be ratified.
The move has prompted backlash, as reported by Lindy’s Sports.
“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross. UEFA takes it extremely seriously. So should every National Football Association,” the group said in a statement. “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.”
Even Andrew Burnham, Britain’s prime minister, came out forcefully against the proposal, saying, “Let me say this very directly. Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline week in, week out, rain or shine. The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out. Football belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will.”
FIFA Member Associations begin to take sides
With a 211-member caucus, there are plenty of opinions about the issue to go around.
For many of them, the fact that FIFA kind of sprang this news on them through the media instead of contacting them separately seems to have rubbed more than a few soccer associations the wrong way.
Consider these quotes from CBS Sports.
The English Football Association seems on the fence, saying that the group was “completely unaware” of FIFA’s proposal and that while it doesn’t have the details of the plan, they are “deeply concerned about the lack of process and governance to get to this point, and the apparent substance and principles involved.”
Related: The World Cup just rewrote the economics of sports
CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, also said they were only made aware of the proposal through news reports, and they are concerned about the “lack of due process” in the decision to pursue this path. While it also didn’t come down on the issue one way or another, it did warn that “Collectively, FIFA, the confederations and every member association have a responsibility to always act in the best interests of the sport. Every decision we make must be guided by good governance, robust processes and long-term stewardship.”
The Asian Football Confederation also took issue with not being notified about the plan.
“The AFC was not consulted on the proposal and is disappointed that a matter of such significance entered the public domain before the AFC family had been afforded the opportunity to examine and discuss it through the appropriate and established governance channels,” they said in a statement.
What’s next for the FIFA plan?
FIFA has until its own self-imposed Sept. 19 deadline to convince at least 106 of its members to vote for the proposal. FIFA just needs a simple majority to submit their written support for the deal for it to pass.
In the meantime, the 55 organizations that have already said no and are boycotting FIFA events have an even sooner deadline to prove that they are for real.
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup is set to kick off in Poland on September 5. But Poland is a UEFA member, and without the European countries that account for six of the tournament’s field of 24, it is very unlikely that the tournament will be the success it could have been.
“Nobody should be in any doubt: UEFA and its national associations will oppose these plans with absolute determination,” the organization said.
“There are moments when institutions are judged not by what they are prepared to accept, but by what they refuse to compromise. This is one of those moments. Some things are simply too important to sell. The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale.”
