FIFA plans sale of World Cup stake to investors – criticism from Europe, the United Kingdom and from Blatter

What the new FIFA subsidiary FFE is intended to do

According to FIFA's own statements, it would remain majority owner of the FFE and thus retain control over the match calendar and all rule-related matters. Infantino described the project as the "democratisation of football worldwide". The proceeds are to flow into the "Forward" development programme, from which all 211 member associations are to benefit. Infantino said: "Hier geht es um die Demokratisierung des Fußballs weltweit." He also stated: "Wir beabsichtigen, auch in den kleinsten und abgelegensten Teilen der Fußballwelt massiv zu investieren - in Regionen, die allzu oft vernachlässigt werden."

According to the FIFA announcement, each member association should be able to draw down an immediate one-off payment of US$20 million (around 17.56 million euros), subject to approval by the competent bodies. In the next World Cup cycle up to 2030, the payment is to be a further US$20 million and thus more than double what was previously planned. In the following cycles, the per-capita payments are to rise to 22 and then 24 million US dollars. The disbursements are independent of the size of the respective country.

Investors from Trump's circle

The British newspaper The Times, the Telegraph and the Financial Times were first to report on the plans on Tuesday. According to them, the US investor Thrive Capital, whose founder Joshua Kushner is the brother of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, is to lead the expected investor group. The investment bank JP Morgan is working on the plans, according to a spokesperson. The Financial Times writes that the investment plans have been in preparation for several months and still need to be approved.

According to The Times, people from the circle of Donald Trump's US administration were also involved in the plans. The connection between Infantino and Trump has been at the centre of political criticism for days. FIFA had previously awarded Trump the FIFA Peace Prize, which, according to the report, set new standards of absurdity. Infantino is 56 years old and, after the end of his term of office, is to lead the FFE, which, according to reports, could make him a highly paid manager of the subsidiary he himself created.

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) reacted with sharp criticism immediately after the plans became known. In a statement, it said the proposals crossed a line that the institutions responsible for football must never cross: "Damit wird eine Grenze überschritten, die die für den Fussball verantwortlichen Institutionen niemals überschreiten dürfen." UEFA further stated that national football associations, leagues, clubs, players, fans and governments had to take the matter "extremely seriously."

Criticism from Europe: UEFA and Gravina warn

In a further statement, UEFA formulated: "Die Seele und die Führung des Fußballs sind keine Handelsware - erst recht nicht bei völliger Intransparenz darüber, wer finanziell davon profitiert. Niemand von uns ist Eigentümer des Fußballs. Er steht der FIFA nicht zum Verkauf." Italian UEFA vice-president Gabriele Gravina told the Italian news agency Ansa: "Wir gehen zu weit." He warned that the balance built up over years between football as spectacle and football as a great popular passion was in danger of being swept away by a profit-oriented view, and called on all confederations to act: "Alle Konföderationen müssen entsprechend handeln."

The Times quoted a senior anonymous official who described the plan as "potentially significantly worse than the European Super League" and as an "atom bomb" for football. UEFA is examining, according to Sky, ESPN and Bloomberg, a special session in the current week on further action. According to reports, UEFA is even considering boycotting the FIFA World Cup. Aleksander Čeferin had previously successfully fought off plans for a European Super League.

Political reactions from the United Kingdom and the United States

There was also sharp protest from British politics. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham published a critical video on Instagram and declared that football did not belong to investors. He said verbatim: "Der Fußball gehört nicht den Investoren. Er gehört den Menschen, die die Tribünen füllen, die an den Seitenlinien stehen, Woche für Woche, bei Regen und bei Sonne." Burnham added: "Die WM ist kein Produkt, sie ist der großartigste Wettbewerb auf der Welt. Sie hat niemals jemandem gehört, damit man sie verkaufen kann. Der Fußball hat immer den Anhängern gehört, und er wird es auch immer." Burnham further wrote: "Sobald man einen Teil davon verkauft hat, hat man sich verkauft."

Former FIFA president Joseph Blatter, who is now 90 years old and comes from Switzerland, turned against his successor on the platform X. He wrote: "Die enge Beziehung zwischen dem FIFA-Präsidenten und dem US-Präsidenten hat eine finanzielle Dimension angenommen, die dem Fußball erheblichen Schaden zufügt. Niemand hat das Recht, unseren Sport zu verkaufen." Blatter himself had advanced the commercialisation of FIFA during his time in office; nonetheless, he criticised the current plans as excessive.

In the United States, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, who plays a leading role on the House Judiciary Committee, called for Infantino to appear before the committee. Raskin criticised that fans could no longer afford the World Cup anyway due to FIFA's pricing policy: "Fußballfans konnten sich die Weltmeisterschaft schon vorher aufgrund der korrupten Preistreiberei der FIFA nicht mehr leisten - mehr Korruption durch Oligarchen bedeutet nur, dass der schöne Sport noch mehr durch Konzerne in Verruf gerät." Raskin also said that FIFA was "doing direct business with the Trump family." Raskin also pointed to a connection to Trump via the investment firm Thrive Capital.

The English Football Association (FA) told the BBC that it had had no knowledge of the FIFA plans before their publication. The English association also reacted in a similar way to UEFA, without joining the investor circle itself. The Deutsche Fußball-Liga (DFL) had pursued similar plans for the commercial bundling of its own media rights in the past; however, they failed due to fan protests.

Possible consequences for fans and the tournament format

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told the BBC that the plans offered FIFA the opportunity to generate significantly more money. He also pointed to a "large number of interested parties in football who want a slice of the cake". Should the FFE actually be founded, shareholders would be expected to want to see profits: "Geld verdienen, um die Aktionäre zufriedenzustellen". This increases the pressure to further expand the number of World Cup teams or to hold the World Cup more often than before. Maguire considers a World Cup with 64 teams every two years to be possible.

According to Deutschlandfunk, future World Cups are to be organised under the new company, in which FIFA will remain majority owner. The broadcaster devoted a six-part podcast series to Infantino's rise and consolidation of power. As early as 2018, Infantino had pursued a similar deal, worth several billion dollars, with Saudi investors for a Club World Cup and a global Nations League; at the time, it failed due to a lack of support within FIFA.

Power relations within FIFA

Effectively, Infantino is considered unchallenged in next year's FIFA presidential election; his term runs until 2031. Some smaller member associations with only a few thousand football players are entirely dependent on FIFA funds. The British non-governmental organisation FairSquare has for years criticised FIFA's basic structure, in which the federation's leadership distributes money to its own electorate. The FIFA Council is considered a possible braking element, as critics of Infantino have more influence there than in the Congress.

The US justice system had already emerged as a sharp opponent of the world federation during the 2015 FIFA corruption scandal. Against this background, Raskin's invitation to Infantino to testify before the Judiciary Committee appears politically explosive. UEFA also operates its own marketing company for the Champions League, but together with Europe's top clubs and without the involvement of private investors. The FIFA initiative differs from this structurally.

The reporting in the days around 29 July 2026 triggered outrage in Europe. Observers pointed out that the commercial exploitation of World Cup rights had already led to high ticket prices and expensive secondary market prices today. Should the FFE launch as planned, this trend is likely