“It is not FIFA’s to sell.” UEFA needed only that sentence, and a second one, “None of us are the owners of football,” to turn a Tuesday announcement into a fight.
The announcement itself was simple enough. FIFA said it would build a commercial vehicle worth $20 billion, called FIFA Forward Enterprise, to hold its broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing rights along with the running of the men’s World Cup, the women’s World Cup and the Club World Cup. The Swiss-based body planned to raise up to $4.2 billion from long-term investors this year by selling roughly 20 per cent in non-controlling stakes. Governance and sporting decisions, FIFA stressed, would stay in its own hands.
Who was lining up
JPMorgan was advising on the process, and former Liberty Media chief Greg Maffei was involved as a commercial adviser. Thrive Eternal, the firm launched by tech investor Joshua Kushner, was expected to lead the investor group. Kushner’s brother is married to the daughter of US President Donald Trump.
FIFA sold the idea to its members with cash. Each of the 211 associations could take an optional one-off payment of $20 million under a new Fast Forward Programme, and the federation said the plan would lift development funding above ten billion dollars over coming cycles. President Gianni Infantino described it as a way to let the commercial side run as a focused business while sharing value more widely. The scheme needed a majority of member associations and the FIFA Council to approve it.
The retreat
It never got that far. According to a commentary by Matthew Lynch, Infantino stood before the press on July 31 and abandoned the plan. UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC had all pushed back, and the commentary says they threatened boycotts. It also reports that a key Infantino adviser resigned during the row, and that critics complained about a lack of transparency.
What FIFA already has
The retreat leaves FIFA with a very profitable tournament. The 2026 World Cup, played across the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, ended with Spain beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time. CNBC reported that FIFA was poised to net more than $9 billion in revenue for 2026, which would push its 2023-2026 cycle toward $13 billion. Qatar’s cycle brought in $7.6 billion.
Broadcasting rights accounted for $3.9 billion of the 2026 total. Marketing rights reached $2.693 billion, about 50 per cent above the $1.8 billion of 2019-2022, and all 16 global sponsorship positions had been sold months before kickoff.
Sources
- FIFA's Controversial $20bn Deal: Joshua Kushner Firm Eyed as Investor in World Cup Rights Sale
- FIFA's $20 Billion Reversal: Why 'Selling Football's Soul' Blew Up in Their Faces – Dr. Matthew Lynch
- FIFA World Cup 2026 Revenue Statistics | Key Facts
