When Gianni Infantino promised in April this year to "unlock the commercial potential of FIFA”, expectations were focused on the revenues from the upcoming World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Less than two weeks after the end of the historic World Cup, which brought in nearly $15 billion in revenue, this promise has acquired new financial dimensions.
In an official letter sent on July 28 to all 211 international football federations that are members of FIFA, Infantino announced plans to create a new subsidiary to manage future World Cups and sell part of it to private investors. The goal: to raise up to $4.2 billion to help finance the development of football around the world.
And while Infantino talks about "democratizing football", UEFA has come out with a sharp criticism of the plans, stating that "football is not for sale".
What do the plans envisage?
In the official letter, Infantino states that the sole aim of this project is "to generate as much revenue as possible", which will then be redistributed between the federations.
To this end, he proposes the creation of a company that will manage the television rights, sponsorships, ticket sales related to the men's and women's World Cups, as well as the Club World Cup, estimated at $20 billion.
According to a report published in According to the British "Times”, such a deal could increase pressure to increase the number of participants in the World Cup or to hold it more often than before. Although the format of the 2026 World Cup was changed to include a record 48 teams, Infantino recently said that the number could be increased for the next edition in 2030.
According to FIFA, the federation will remain the majority shareholder in the company and will retain control over the match calendar and all matters related to the rules of the game. All 211 FIFA member associations will also receive smaller shares in the company, which they will be able to keep or sell. For such a proposal to be accepted, FIFA members must support it by a simple majority.
Financial incentives for federations
For those of them who decide to do so, Infantino has already indicated a specific incentive: an amount of $40 million for the next four-year cycle until 2030, compared to just $10 million if the current structure is maintained. The amount is distributed as an initial guaranteed payment of $20 million from January 1, 2027 for the cycle until 2030, to which will be added a “one-off payment” of the same amount for each federation participating in the project. Federations must give their answer ”for” or ”against” plans by September 19.
"In return, the only thing that is required of you is your trust", writes the FIFA president, who hopes to be re-elected for a new term at the helm of the federation in 2027.
Why is the proposal controversial?
"The soul and governance of football are not commodities - especially with a complete lack of transparency about who benefits financially. "None of us own football," UEFA said in a statement against Infantino's plans.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter joined the criticism of the European federation, stressing that "the close relationship between Infantino and US President Donald Trump has reached financial dimensions that are deeply damaging to football."
He drew attention to the confirmed information that one of the main investors who will buy part of the shares of the new company is the company Thrive Capital, which is owned by Joshua Kushner - brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. They are also joined by the bank J.P. Morgan. FIFA's commercial advisor is Greg Maffei - former president of the company that holds the commercial rights to "Formula 1", and close to Trump. "FIFA cannot continue to use our sport to benefit itself and its friends", UEFA said in a statement. It added: "We can develop the sport in the right way. It is time to put the federations, clubs, leagues, players and fans first".
What is the expected development?
The European football associations that are members of UEFA voted unanimously to boycott all future FIFA tournaments in protest."As a result of today's discussion, no UEFA national team will participate in any FIFA competitions while these proposals remain in force", UEFA said in a statement published after an online meeting of Europe's 55 football associations.
The European federation added that they are demanding that FIFA give binding guarantees that it will "never again open its governance and competitions" to private investors.
A potential boycott by European national teams, including Spain, which won the 2026 World Cup and will co-host the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco, would cause serious damage to FIFA. "Some things are simply too important to be sold", UEFA concluded its statement. "The World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And as long as Europe has a say, it will never be for sale."
The association, which is responsible for North and Central America and the Caribbean, has also expressed criticism of Infantino's proposal. However, this is not the reaction of the African confederation, whose 54 members have been invited to consider the proposal before making a decision.