Outrage over FIFA’s attempt to sell off the World Cup

FIFA is at the centre of football’s latest storm. The idea of selling stakes in its flagship tournaments, including the men’s and women’s World Cups and the Club World Cup, to private investors has triggered a fierce backlash in which president Gianni Infantino has emerged as the main target. “Football is not for sale”, “None of us owns football. It is not for FIFA to sell it” and “Once you have sold a part, you have sold yourself” are among the phrases now echoing across the game. Critics fear that FIFA, through its Council and 211 member associations, could open the World Cup’s vast commercial revenues to private capital and allow investors to profit from them, despite FIFA’s insistence that this is not the intention. Even if no profits were taken directly from the competitions, any ownership stakes could later be sold on at substantial capital gains.

The controversy has spread through every level of world football, beginning with UEFA under Aleksander Čeferin. In England, where Infantino’s closeness to Donald Trump’s circle has long attracted criticism, the reaction has been particularly severe. The reported links between Infantino and Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner and brother-in-law of Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, have proved especially explosive. Joshua Kushner is the public face of Thrive Capital, the investment fund said to be playing the leading role in the process, and that connection has become the latest focus of criticism.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham led the political backlash in Britain. “Football does not belong to investors,” he said. “It belongs to the people who fill the stands and stand on the touchline week after week, rain or shine. The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest sporting competition in the world, and it was never anyone’s property to sell. Call it what you like. Once you have sold a part, you have sold yourself. Football belongs to the fans. It always has and it always will.”

Britain’s influential Football Supporters’ Association reacted with equal force, recalling its opposition to the European Super League. The organisation said many supporters had returned from the World Cup believing FIFA could do little more to damage the tournament they love, adding that fans across football were “furious”. It vowed to scrutinise every detail of the proposal and to oppose any move that threatens the long-term future of the game for short-term commercial gain. The statement argued that this must not become another stage in Infantino’s attempt to reshape football without regard for supporters or the wider interests of the sport, and it endorsed UEFA’s criticism while calling on governing bodies, leagues, clubs and fans to unite in defence of football’s future.

FIFA has tried to calm the uproar through a lengthy statement stressing that the proposed subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise, would remain firmly under FIFA’s majority ownership and control. The governing body insisted it would retain exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, the international calendar and all sporting and regulatory decisions. Yet the very possibility of private investment has unleashed a torrent of criticism, and the English press has treated the issue as a major scandal. Infantino’s position has been further weakened by a report in The Times claiming he could eventually become commissioner of the overall structure after leaving FIFA, a role more commonly associated with American professional sports.

FIFA argues that the proposal represents “the democratisation of football worldwide”. UEFA sees it very differently, calling the idea “very serious” and “a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross”. In UEFA’s view, the soul and governance of football are not assets to be traded, particularly when there is little transparency about who would benefit financially.

To justify the plan, FIFA says the investment would generate substantial financial benefits for its member associations. The governing body has promised that any private capital raised would provide more than $19 billion, with further funds potentially to follow, for distribution among federations that choose to participate. Their approval would be required before any investment could be made in the new subsidiary.

Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, attacked the proposal on social media. He argued that FIFA was promising billions of dollars and additional payments to each federation while preparing to open its rights and competitions to private investors, and said the project resembled an election campaign financed with football’s future rather than genuine reform. He accused Infantino of treating FIFA’s commercial assets as personal property and concluded that the FIFA president was not the solution to the organisation’s governance problems but the problem itself. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter also criticised the plan on X, saying the growing financial dimension of the Trump–Infantino relationship was harming football and insisting that no one had the right to sell the sport.

According to The Guardian, Infantino explored a similar idea before the 2018 World Cup in Russia through discussions with SoftBank, but strong opposition at the time prevented it from progressing. Now, with a FIFA presidential election approaching in March at the organisation’s 77th Congress, the issue has returned with even greater force. Infantino, who has led FIFA since February 2016 after serving as UEFA general secretary from 2009 to 2016, is seeking a fourth term that would keep him in office until 2031. The latest controversy has unsettled many senior figures within FIFA’s 211 member associations.

Whatever happens next, the proposed creation of FIFA Forward Enterprise suggests that football may be entering a new era. The debate is no longer simply about one investment vehicle or one presidential term. It has become a struggle over who controls the game, who benefits from its wealth and how far commercial interests should be allowed to shape its future. This appears to be only the opening chapter of what promises to be a fierce battle among football’s governing bodies, leagues, clubs, investors and supporters.

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