FIFA says it hopes to sell US$4.2-billion stake in its tournaments

PARIS, France (AFP) — FIFA said yesterday that it plans to sell a stake in the business operations of the World Cup and its other competitions through the creation of a semi-private subsidiary. World football’s governing body said it would retain a majority share in FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) but hoped to raise US$4.2 billion later this year by “carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests”. FIFA’s statement was a rapid response to a story in British newspaper The Times based on leaks of the plan from two sources.

The Times reported that FIFA President Gianni Infantino, 56, stood to profit from the scheme by becoming commissioner of the FFE after his expected next term expires in 2031. The article also said discussions had started with potential investors. It named Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, as well as an arm of JP Morgan Chase, the US bank that attempted to finance the failed breakaway European Super League.

European football’s governing body UEFA, which has been critical of Infantino, was also quick to respond to the article. “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross. UEFA takes it extremely seriously,” UEFA’s statement said.

“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.” FIFA said in its statement that it “would retain sole control of FFE and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, match calendar, and all regulatory and sporting decisions”.

It said it believed FFE would achieve an “initial equity valuation of US$20 billion”. FIFA said each its 211 member associations (MAs) would be given the chance to take a one-off stake of US$20 million dollars in FFE. That represents only 0.1 percent of the total, but would be a significant sum for the leaderships of FIFA’s poorer or smaller members.

“Together with other existing FIFA programmes, these investments could bring FIFA’s total planned development funding to more than US$10 billion over the next four years,” FIFA said. In June, ahead of the World Cup, FIFA, which folds competition income into revenue for the whole year, anticipated record revenues exceeding US$8 billion for 2026.