FIFA hits back at international revolt over Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell World Cup shares

FIFA issued a blistering attack on the media in its late-night response to furious backlash over the controversial plan to sell World Cup stakes to private investors.

According to the group’s statement, ‘erroneous reporting’ about the plan ‘disrupted [a] planned consultation process.’ The organization did not specify which reports about the plan were erroneous.

What’s more, FIFA’s statement insists the group is not selling out the sport: ‘Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain.’

The response from FIFA came after European nations agreed to boycott the World Cup over FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s plan. CONCACAF, including USA and Canada, followed by rejecting the proposal.

‘We have heard the feedback provided by the respective confederations in relation to the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and would like to address the issues that have surfaced since the initial media reporting on Tuesday,’ the FIFA statement began.

‘We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation.

⁠’Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports,’ the statement continued. ‘We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each MA [FIFA Member Associations] has the ability to express its vote based on facts.’

The statement concludes with a mention of the ‘principles’ that ‘underpin the FFE proposal,’ including ‘unprecedented development funding, truly global ownership of the commercial opportunities of our sport, and full self-determination through a democratic process for all MAs.’

FIFA’s statement was released in the early hours of Friday morning at the organization’s headquarters in Switzerland. 

The widely condemned proposal was in disarray almost immediately as England joined 89 other nations in boycotting future World Cups. By Thursday afternoon, England and the other 54 UEFA nations were in unanimous agreement on the proposal to generate $4 billion (£3.1billion) in investment for FIFA tournaments.

UEFA was backed by the 35 FIFA-registered nations of CONCACA, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, who also rejected the plans – although they stopped short of threatening to withdraw from FIFA competitions.

Sources told The Daily Mail that opposition to Infantino’s FIFA presidency is growing within CONCACAF, with the vast majority of member associations having already lost confidence in his leadership.

To pass the proposal, Infantino would need the backing of 106 member associations. Currently, 90 FIFA members are publicly opposed to the plans. Sixteen more rebels would make it impossible for Infantino to pass his plans.

‘UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions,’ the European soccer body said after an urgent online meeting of its 55 member nations.

The next scheduled FIFA tournament is within weeks in Europe – the Women’s Under-20 World Cup hosted by Poland from September 5.

‘Some things are simply too important to sell,’ UEFA said in a statement. ‘The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale.’

The strategy meeting was called to counter Infantino’s offer of $20 million to each of FIFA’s 211 global members, which has to be accepted by mid-September.

Infantino’s secret project was revealed Tuesday to spin off its commercial operations in a new $20 billion subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) 20 percent owned by private investors. The core investor would be a New York investment firm created by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Infantino wrote Tuesday to the 211 members – already the effective owners of FIFA as a non-profit association under Swiss law – that if they approve FFE, their promised $10 million basic funding for the next four years will double to $20 million. He projected FIFA funding through 2038 would be $86 million each, instead of about $36 million.

‘This is not merely a profound failure of leadership, but an abdication of FIFA’s duty as the custodian of world football,’ said UEFA, where Infantino was a long-time staffer and its CEO-like general secretary when he was first elected to lead FIFA in 2016.

Infantino’s high-stakes financial gambit now could threaten his previously secure 11-year presidency of FIFA as anger and frustration with him rise among soccer stakeholders, including three of the six continental bodies.

FIFA has set a November 18 deadline for potential candidates to declare in a presidential vote of the 211 members scheduled next March in Rabat, Morocco. 

Meanwhile, officials have said privately that Infantino is eying a lucrative commissioner-like role at the FFE spinoff beyond 2031.