FIFA announced Tuesday that it plans to create a semi-private subsidiary to oversee the commercial operations of the World Cup and its other competitions, opening the door to outside investment while retaining overall control.
World football's governing body said it would keep a majority stake in the new entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), but aims to raise $4.2 billion later this year by offering minority, non-controlling stakes to carefully selected long-term investors.
The announcement came in swift response to reports published by British newspapers The Times and the Financial Times, which cited leaked details of the proposal from two sources familiar with the matter.
According to The Times, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, 56, could eventually benefit from the restructuring by becoming commissioner of FFE after his anticipated term ends in 2031. FIFA rejected the claim, saying no such discussions had taken place.
The report also said FIFA has already begun holding talks with financial advisers and potential investors about the planned venture.
Those include Thrive Capital, an investment company founded and led by Joshua Kushner, brother of U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as an arm of JPMorgan Chase, the U.S. bank that attempted to finance the failed breakaway European Super League.
Sepp Blatter, Infantino's disgraced predecessor, drew attention to the American connection.
"The close relationship between the FIFA president and the U.S. president has reached a financial dimension that is deeply damaging football. No one has the right to sell our game," the former FIFA president posted on social media.
European football's governing body, UEFA, which has been critical of Infantino, also responded.
"This crosses a line that football's governing institutions should never cross. UEFA takes it extremely seriously," UEFA said in a statement.
"The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade, especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA's to sell."
The plan would still have to be approved by the 38-member FIFA Council and a majority of the member associations. FIFA said it intends to present the plans to the council soon.
FIFA said in its statement that it "would retain sole control of FFE and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, match calendar, and all regulatory and sporting decisions."
It said it believed FFE would achieve an initial equity valuation of $20 billion.
FIFA said each of its 211 member associations would be given the chance to take a one-time stake of $20 million in FFE.
That represents only 0.1% of the total but would be a significant sum for the leadership of FIFA's poorer or smaller members.
"Together with other existing FIFA programs, these investments could bring FIFA's total planned development funding to more than $10 billion over the next four years," FIFA said.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, an Everton fan, decried the plan, saying football was not a product in a post on X.
"Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline week in, week out, rain or shine. The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone's to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out. Football belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will," he wrote.
In June, ahead of the World Cup, FIFA, which folds competition income into revenue for the whole year, anticipated record revenue exceeding 7 billion euros ($8 billion) for 2026.
It is the first World Cup with 48 teams. At the start of the tournament, Infantino said, "We have had discussions about expanding to 64 teams" for the 2030 edition.
The Times quoted an unnamed "senior football figure" calling the plan "potentially much worse than the European Super League" because it would affect all levels of football across the globe.
Another anonymous source told the British newspaper that the plan would create "unacceptable" conflicts of interest for FIFA and Infantino.
In 2019, a FIFA stakeholders committee rejected an Infantino-backed plan for a $25 billion private investment in an expanded Club World Cup.
Reported backers included SoftBank of Japan and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. FIFA later expanded the competition from seven teams to 32 clubs in 2025.
The Times speculated that the creation of FFE could affect both the World Cup and the Club World Cup.
"It could lead to pressure for both events to be further expanded or played more regularly than the present once every four years," it wrote.
FIFA has previously found itself in trouble over deals that spun off commercial activities to private partners.
Estimates of its losses when ISL, which negotiated World Cup rights deals, collapsed in 2001 ranged from $30 million to $115 million.
