European nations agreed to boycott the World Cup and all other FIFA competitions to protest Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in football’s biggest tournament to private equity investors. The North American football body rejected his plan later the same day.
“UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions,” the European football 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 — and the four British federations comprise FIFA’s only bidder to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup. That decision is due November 23.
“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 FIFA President Infantino’s offer of US$20 million (NZ$34 million) to each of FIFA’s 211 global members that has to be accepted by mid-September.
Later Thursday, the 41-member Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) met and announced it rejected Infantino's plan.
In a statement, CONCACAF said members “expressed deep concerns about the lack of due process surrounding the proposal, the artificially short deadline imposed, and the absence of any review or approval by the relevant FIFA governance bodies”. It also questioned the need for outside investment "following the most profitable FIFA World Cup in history”.
Infantino’s secret project was revealed to spin off its commercial operations in a new US$20 billion (NZ$34 billion) subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) 20% owned by private investors. The core investor would be a New York investment firm created by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Infantino wrote 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 US$10 million (NZ$17 million) basic funding for the next four years will double to $20 million (NZ$34 million). He projected their FIFA funding through 2038 would be US$86 million each, instead of about US$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.
New Zealand Football, Oceania body respond
In a statement, New Zealand Football said it would need "time to review, as well as more information from FIFA, before commenting further”.
The Oceania Football Confederation, of which New Zealand is a member, said it had commenced a consultation process with member nations and the FIFA Council.
The proposal would be considered by the confederation's executive committee at its upcoming meeting in August.
"OFC invites its Member Associations to review the proposal and participate in the consultation process.
"OFC remains committed to engaging constructively with its Member Associations, FIFA, fellow Confederations and other football stakeholders throughout the consultation process and in support of the continued development of football across Oceania and globally."
Infantino’s presidency at risk?
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 football 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.
Infantino had seemed — 11 days ago after the World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey — to have a clear path to being re-elected unopposed for a fourth and final term in office through 2031, despite a furore over letting United States forward Folarin Balogun play against Belgium despite a red card in his previous game.
Officials have said privately Infantino has eyed a lucrative commissioner-like role at the FFE spinoff beyond 2031.
“Game over, Gianni #InfantinOUT,” the Football Supporters Europe group, which advises UEFA on fan issues such as ticket prices, posted after the boycott threat.
Football’s concern at investor pressure
UEFA detailed why officials fear external investors owning a stake in the global game’s biggest events, including World Cups and Club World Cups for men and women.
“The moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever,” UEFA said. “Commercial return becomes a permanent obligation. Investor expectations become a daily pressure.”
Infantino has presented the private equity offer as a chance to “turbocharge” funding development of football across the world, where a majority of the 211 FIFA members rely on its funding.
Officials from about 40 UEFA member states spoke at the urgent meeting, with anger expressed that FIFA is not using some of its multi-billion-dollar reserves to fund extra development programs.
“As a result of today’s discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive,” the European body said, “unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership”.
Asia adds rare criticism of Infantino
On a seismic day in football politics, a traditional bedrock of support in Asia for FIFA and Infantino had earlier been shaken.
“FIFA’s unilateral actions appear to undermine the very foundations of continental football,” the Asian Football Confederation president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, said in a letter to its 46 members of FIFA, warning of risks to their own competitions.
Sheikh Salman, an ally to Infantino since losing the FIFA presidential election to him in 2016, wrote “such an initiative will not succeed without the support of all the confederations, which is not the case now”.
In a video message published by FIFA, Infantino insisted spinning off its money-making operations was “an offer, not an obligation”.
A FIFA presentation for its members, co-written with its banking advisors from JP Morgan and seen by the AP, set a goal for FFE as “commercial rigour and expertise to better capitalise on broadcast rights, sponsorships and a growing tournament portfolio”.
A threatened World Cup boycott from Europe helped derail Infantino’s plan in 2021 to play World Cups every two years instead of four.
FIFA squeeze on continental games
That growing portfolio likely would include adding more teams to FIFA competitions like the World Cup and Club World Cup for men and women, and potentially staging them more often than every four years, including in the US.
FIFA adding teams, games and competitions would squeeze the value, status and space in the congested global fixture calendar for those that fund and are organised by the six continental bodies like UEFA and the AFC. Those include World Cup qualifying games, continental tournaments and Champions Leagues.
“It is important that the AFC family has a complete understanding,” Sheikh Salman wrote, “of how such an initiative may affect key areas of global and Asian football, including the sustainability of confederation and (domestic) competitions, as well as the organisation and commercial landscape surrounding the AFC’s activities”.
- Additional reporting by 1News
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