FIFA plan for Kushner-backed $20 billion US operation to run World Cup meets fury from Europe's UEFA
UEFA has strongly criticized FIFA's reported plans to create a commercial subsidiary to manage major tournaments like the World Cup with private equity backing. The proposal involves a $20 billion valuation and potential investment from a firm linked to Jared Kushner.
Why it matters
This highlights a growing conflict between football's governing bodies over the commercialization and privatization of global sporting assets.
"It is not FIFA's to sell," UEFA said in a statement. "None of us are the owners of football."
Infantino's plans to form a commercial subsidiary, which would be called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), running competitions like the World Cup and Club World Cup was first reported by The Times of London.
FIFA said in a statement FFE would raise up to $4.2 billion later this year to help fund development programs "based on an initial equity valuation of $20 billion by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests."
FIFA is working with J.P. Morgan while intended investors include Thrive Eternal launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is a son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The men's World Cup that finished this month only deepened the political and personal ties between Trump and Infantino, and fuelled concerns about those ties including from UEFA.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in