FIFA President Gianni Infantino has put forward an ambitious scheme to spin off the organization’s flagship tournaments, including the World Cup, into a privately run venture called the FIFA Forward Enterprise.
The new entity, dubbed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), is slated to raise roughly $4.2 billion from a consortium of investors, among them Thrive Eternal, a vehicle launched by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, who is also the son‑in‑law of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Under the proposal, investors would acquire minority stakes in the venture, which would be valued at about $20 billion, allowing the organization to fund development programmes across its 211 member federations.
A governance clash
European football’s governing body, UEFA, has come out strongly against the plan, warning that the sale of governance rights to private capital threatens the sport’s integrity and could set a dangerous precedent for how football is administered worldwide.
What’s at stake
The resistance from UEFA underscores a broader tension between traditional football authorities and emerging models that blend sport with corporate finance, a clash that will likely dominate discussions at the upcoming FIFA congress.
For the plan to move forward, it must secure the backing of every one of FIFA’s 211 member associations, a high bar that reflects the deep‑rooted concerns about relinquishing control of the world’s most popular sport to external shareholders.