Joshua Kushner Says He Regrets Joining Failed World Cup Rights Investment Plan

Joshua Kushner says he underestimated the political struggle surrounding global football when he joined FIFA’s plan to sell private investors stakes in World Cup commercial rights. He now regrets taking part.

Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, said Thrive Capital would not have joined the project if it had known the backlash it would trigger. His statement to AFP marked his first public comments since the plan collapsed.

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If we had known where this would lead, we would not have joined.

The Fifa Forward Enterprise proposal would have placed FIFA’s commercial operations in a new subsidiary and sold private investors stakes in it. The company was valued at about $20 billion. FIFA said the arrangement could have raised roughly $4.2 billion, mainly to support poorer football nations, while all 211 member associations would ultimately have voted on the plan.

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A murky and opaque backroom deal.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino had promised participating countries 40 million euros. Half would have been paid on Jan. 1, 2027, and the rest four years later. The proposal nevertheless faced strong opposition because it had been prepared behind closed doors and would have benefited private investors.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin called it “a murky and opaque backroom deal.” UEFA has demanded Infantino’s resignation and accused him of criminal mismanagement of funds. Documents seen by AFP show that UEFA is assembling material in Switzerland for a possible criminal complaint. Kushner and Thrive Capital have not been accused of wrongdoing and are not expected to be defendants in any potential case.

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Football money has historically been concentrated among a small group of countries.

Kushner defended the plan’s basic aim, saying football money had historically been concentrated among a small group of countries. He said the project sought to distribute capital more evenly among FIFA’s members and direct more funding to grassroots football and player development. But he acknowledged that those involved had not sufficiently understood global football’s political dynamics or how far some opponents would go.

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Although we stand behind FFE’s objectives, we did not sufficiently understand the political dynamics of world football or how far some would be willing to go.