The International Football Federation FIFA, as part of its plan to create a new body for the World Cup with the participation of the family of US President Donald Trump, invited national football unions to give consent by September 19 and receive $20 million for the next preparatory cycle. According to the Associated Press (AP), FIFA believes that this will pave the way for the partial sale of assets to private investors, the main one of which may be the brother of the son-in-law of the head of the White House, Joshua Kushner.
FIFA's plan to reorganize the process of holding and financing the World Cup became known on Tuesday, July 28, amid the completion of the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. As reported by The Times of London, the initiative of FIFA head Gianni Infantino is called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and, according to internal estimates, expects investments of $20 billion.
The main investor was called Thrive Eternal, led by 41-year-old Kushner, the brother of businessman Jared Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump.
As the AP reported on Wednesday, Infantino said in a letter to national soccer bodies that if the new scheme is rejected, they will receive the previously agreed $10 million for participation in the four-year cycle of the 2030 men's World Cup and its club counterpart.
The agency notes that over the next 12 years, for which the project is designed with 20 percent participation of private capital, each of the 211 FIFA member countries can count on almost $50 million more than under the current system of organizing the World Cup.
“It is my duty and responsibility as president of FIFA to offer you, our members, these kinds of game-changing opportunities,” the AP quoted Infantino, who also named US bank JP Morgan as a partner in the FFE project, in a closed letter.
After the first reports in the media, the Union of European Football Associations UEFA criticized the FIFA plan. In 2021, Europe's main football organization has already boycotted Infantino's idea to hold the World Cup every two years, and not every four, as now.
“The soul and leadership of football are not assets that can be sold, especially when the main beneficiaries are completely opaque,” UEFA emphasized in a public statement on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, amid reports of a September 19 deadline, the organization added that this information “tells everything you need to know about the plan.”
“Having held discussions with many football stakeholders, UEFA knows for sure that FIFA's plan is facing growing opposition. FIFA should not continue to use our sport to enrich itself and its friends,” the European organization noted.
In confirmation of the words of the UEFA leadership, CONCACAF, the football confederation of North and Central America and the Caribbean, joined in criticizing the project on the same day. The USA is a member of this football confederation, whose headquarters are located in Miami, Florida.
“We are extremely concerned about the lack of due process. This disappointment is shared by many in our region and world football – we are disappointed that these types of details were worked out and made public before the relevant governing bodies and stakeholders had the opportunity to participate in the discussion,” the 41-nation CONCACAF said.
As the AP notes, on Thursday 55 UEFA members will gather for an emergency online meeting to discuss the idea of FFE. Infantino's plan requires approval from more than half of FIFA's 211 member countries.
