FIFA announced on Tuesday that it was abandoning a plan to offload a 21% stake in its World Cup commercial operations to private investors, a move that would have valued the package at roughly $20 billion.
A Proposal That Shook Global Soccer
The scheme, championed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and organized under the banner of FIFA Forward Enterprise, had drawn interest from a consortium that included Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, who served as a senior adviser to former President Donald Trump.
European and regional governing bodies reacted swiftly, with UEFA issuing a unanimous vote to boycott any FIFA‑run tournaments should the deal proceed, while CONCACAF echoed the sentiment, declaring the World Cup “not for sale.”
The proposal’s collapse was underscored by the lingering shadow of past scandals; a 2015 investigation had already resulted in the indictment of several CONCACAF officials, including Chuck Blazer, who later cooperated with the FBI and lived in Trump Tower, where he attended events that also featured Donald Trump.
Infantino’s controversial gesture of presenting Trump with a so‑called peace prize in 2023 added another layer of political intrigue, especially as the former president’s administration later imposed sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, further complicating FIFA’s diplomatic calculus.
Member associations were given a mere 53 days to endorse the transaction, a compressed window that accelerated opposition and ultimately forced Infantino to concede that the plan had created deep divisions within the organization.
While the deal never materialized, the episode highlights the intersection of sports governance, political patronage and commercial ambition, leaving FIFA to confront the fallout of a scheme that was as much about power as it was about profit.