FIFA plans to form new commercial subsidiary and sell stake
FIFA has announced plans to form a commercial subsidiary and to sell a non-controlling interest to private investors. It needs approval from member associations, but
FIFA has announced plans to form a commercial subsidiary and to sell a non-controlling interest to private investors. It needs approval from member associations, but is claiming that it will benefit them financially. FIFA plans to create a new commercial subsidiary valued at $20 billion (roughly €17.5 billion) and sell non-controlling minority stakes to investors, world football's governing body announced on Tuesday. It called on its 211 member federations to back the plan, saying that if they voted in favor they "would benefit immediately from increased funding." As soon as the news emerged, European football federation UEFA issued fierce criticism of the plan, saying it "crosses a line that football's governing institutions should never cross." The push comes immediately after this summer's World Cup hosted primarily in the US, with FIFA listing a series of potential investors and advisors from the country. Infantino's close relationship with US President Donald Trump had already prompted criticism in some corners prior to Tuesday's announcement, which came a day after Infantino issued a fiery statement defending the tournament in the US and the controversies that accompanied it. Gianni Infantino has been a staunch defender of this summer's World Cup, even as his own role in it came under increased scrutiny Image: Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo/picture alliance What did FIFA say about the plan? FIFA said that it planned to set up a "new FIFA-owned and controlled subsidiary consolidating FIFA's commercial and event operations" that it would call the FIFA Forward Enterprise, or FFE. It said this company would be valued at $20 billion and that FFE would aim to raise up to $4.2 billion "this year" by "carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests in FFE." FIFA claimed that "all net benefits of FFE will be reinvested back into football worldwide," without clarifying what constituted "net benefits," or what gains investors then stood to make.
FFE would be responsible for FIFA's commercial rights like broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing contracts, the statement said. By far the most valuable of these for FIFA are those connected to the World Cup, although other competitions like the recently and controversially relaunched FIFA Club World Cup also apply. Ahead of this month's World Cup final in New York, FIFA President Gianni Infantino had told member associations that he wanted to "unleash the commercial potential and opportunity" of the organization. Infantino tried to portray the changes as seeking to more evenly spread out football funding and to "democratize" the game, seemingly in a pitch aimed at less wealthy (and more numerous) football associations in particular. "As its global governing body, FIFA is responsible for making sure the game reaches every corner of the world, and that the value it creates supports federations and communities everywhere. Our next stage of growth needs a structure built for it, one where the commercial side of the game operates as a focused, dedicated business, with its value shared more and better all around the world," Infantino said in FIFA's press release. "We intend to invest heavily even in the smallest or most remote parts of the footballing world, places that are too often passed over," Infantino said, championing the new investment scheme dubbed the FIFA Fast Forward Programme, or FFFP. 2026 World Cup, the tournament that changed football forever To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video How did UEFA react? FIFA's press release was published soon after an article on the website of UK newspaper The Times — followed soon after by the Financial Times, Bloomberg and others — began attracting international attention.
The BriefWire