FIFA has defended its proposed private equity venture tied to the World Cup, insisting that “nobody is selling football” after mounting opposition from football confederations across the globe.
In a statement issued early Friday, World Football’s governing body blamed “erroneous reporting in the media” for sparking widespread criticism of its proposal to create the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a commercial subsidiary that would allow private investors to own a minority stake in FIFA’s commercial operations.
FIFA said it remained committed to consulting its 211 member associations before any decision is made and stressed that the FFE would not be established if members rejected the proposal.
“FIFA’s commercial activities would remain unchanged. FFE would not be established. Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain,” the statement said.
The clarification came after UEFA announced that its 55 member associations would boycott FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, in protest against the plan. Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), also rejected the proposal, citing concerns over governance, transparency and the short consultation timeline.
UEFA declared that “the FIFA World Cup belongs to football” and should never be put up for sale, while Concacaf questioned the need for outside investment after FIFA’s most profitable World Cup. The AFC called for an urgent review of FIFA’s governance and decision-making processes.
The controversy centres on Infantino’s proposal to spin off FIFA’s commercial operations into the new $20 billion FFE subsidiary, with private investors owning a 20% stake. Member associations were promised an increase in FIFA funding, from $10 million to $20 million over the next four years, if they approved the plan.
The backlash deepened on Friday when senior FIFA adviser and former US Soccer president, Carlos Cordeiro resigned in protest over the proposal.
Oluwagbemisola Babalola
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