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FIFA scraps controversial World Cup investment plan amid widespread opposition
🇨🇱 Chile /Sports

FIFA scraps controversial World Cup investment plan amid widespread opposition

From Cooperativa · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • FIFA has abandoned its controversial plan to create a subsidiary with external investors to manage its tournaments, including the World Cup.
  • The proposal faced strong opposition from major confederations like UEFA, Concacaf, and the Asian Football Confederation.
  • FIFA's chief operating officer admitted the organization was misled about the project, and a senior advisor resigned, calling it a "bad deal for football."

FIFA has officially scrapped its controversial plan to establish a commercial subsidiary, intended to attract external investors for organizing and marketing its major tournaments, including the World Cup. The decision comes after significant backlash from various football confederations, which had publicly rejected the initiative.

UEFA, representing European football associations, had threatened a boycott of World Cups if the plans proceeded. Concacaf, governing football in North, Central America, and the Caribbean, also rejected the proposal, with sources indicating a widespread loss of faith in FIFA President Gianni Infantino among its member associations. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) declared its solidarity with UEFA and Concacaf, further isolating Infantino's administration.

Fifa's own administration had been 'deceived' about the project.

— Kevin LamourFIFA's chief operating officer admitting the organization was misled.

FIFA's chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, acknowledged that the governing body's own administration had been "deceived" about the true nature of the project. Carlos Cordeiro, a senior advisor to Infantino on global strategy and governance, resigned from his position, denouncing the proposal as a "bad deal for football" that would "mortgage football's future."

The plan, spearheaded by Infantino, aimed to create a new entity, Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE), where external investors could acquire minority, non-controlling stakes. A document prepared by investment bank JP Morgan outlined strategies for expanding FIFA's tournaments to achieve an estimated increased payout of 24 million euros per member association by 2035-2039. The proposal notably omitted any mention of the women's game. Thrive Eternal, an American venture capital firm founded by Joshua Kushner, was expected to lead the investor group. Infantino had set a September 19 deadline for federations to accept the plans to access an initial $20 million.

a bad deal for football and would 'mortgage football's future'.

— Carlos CordeiroFIFA's senior advisor on global strategy and governance, explaining his resignation over the plan.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Cooperativa in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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