FIFA Sinks to a New Low With Its Most Shameless Power Grab Yet

Good morning, I'm Dan Gartland. If FIFA is so desperate for money, why not just sell jersey sponsorships? If Notre Dame can pull it off, so can anyone else. 

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Another FIFA cash grab

Did you enjoy this summer's World Cup? Don't expect it to stay the same. 

FIFA has put forward a proposal to hand over control of the men's and women's World Cups (along with the Club World Cup) to a newly formed spinoff organization that would be partially owned by outside investors—a move critics have condemned as selling out the heart of the sport. 

Grey Whitebloom has an excellent breakdown of the FIFA proposal, the motivations behind it and the rapid backlash that followed. 

Here's the short version: FIFA would establish a subsidiary called the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) tasked with "consolidating FIFA's commercial and event operations." FIFA would offer shares in FFE to outside investors, who would hold a 21% stake in the new entity. The capital raised would then be distributed equally among FIFA's member nations. 

FIFA has already identified the lead investor as Thrive Eternal, a permanent capital holding company headed by Joshua Kushner—brother of Jared Kushner, who is the son-in-law of FIFA Peace Prize recipient Donald Trump. 

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has faced considerable criticism for his unusually close ties with Trump. He is currently the subject of a formal ethics complaint stemming from FIFA's decision to allow U.S. forward Folarin Balogun to feature in the team's round of 16 match at Trump's request, and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D., Md.) has called on Infantino to testify before the House Judiciary Committee regarding FIFA's connections to Trump and the president's family business interests. 

The World Cup spinoff scheme would also prove highly lucrative for Infantino personally. He is widely anticipated to be re-elected as FIFA president next year—likely without opposition, as was the case in 2019 and '23—for what would be his third consecutive four-year term. While he would be ineligible to seek re-election in '31, it appears he wouldn't be left without a role. London's The Times reported that Infantino is set to become commissioner of the new spinoff company, with a salary comparable to the NFL commissioner's most recently disclosed earnings ($64 million in 2021). 

While Infantino and his White House allies stand to gain the most from the FFE plan, FIFA is also framing it as a benefit for its members. Each member association would receive $20 million over the 2027–30 cycle—more than double the $8 million available under the current structure. FIFA is pitching it as a means to "strengthen football infrastructure and opportunity worldwide."

The backlash, however, has been fierce and far-reaching. Hans-Joachim Watzke, vice president of Germany's football governing body and of UEFA's executive committee, described the plan as "an outright attack on football" and declared that "a line has been crossed here." 

"The World Cup is not a product," U.K. prime minister Andy Burnham posted on social media. "It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone's to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out." 

Even former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who stepped down in 2015 amid a sweeping corruption scandal, voiced his objections. 

"The close relationship between the FIFA President and the US President has reached a financial dimension that is deeply damaging football," Blatter wrote on social media. "No one has the right to sell our game."

The most forceful opposition has come from UEFA, European soccer's governing body. 

"The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade—especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially," UEFA said in a statement. "None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA's to sell."

UEFA also appears ready to back up its words with action. ESPN reported that the federation—home to many of the world's elite clubs—is weighing a World Cup boycott in protest of the FIFA proposal.

The threat of a boycott, which could dramatically diminish the World Cup's prestige, may be enough to pressure FIFA into abandoning the proposed cash grab. However, before the plan can take effect, it must be approved by a majority of FIFA's 211 member associations. UEFA represents 55 of those members. If UEFA holds firm in its opposition, FIFA would need 106 of the remaining 156 members to vote in favor. 

In some respects, the FIFA proposal echoes the 2021 uproar over the proposed European Super League—a plan that would have pulled many of Europe's top clubs out of their domestic competitions to form a kind of permanent Champions League. That plan was universally condemned as a threat to the game's foundations, triggered mass protests from supporters, and was swiftly scrapped. 

FIFA's plan is equally unpopular, but can it be derailed? Soccer's most powerful nations appear united in their opposition, yet the promise of larger payouts could tempt smaller nations operating on tight budgets for whom the World Cup remains a distant aspiration. Can FIFA secure enough votes from members like Vanuatu, Eritrea and Bhutan to push the measure through?

Whether or not the plan ultimately moves forward, the mere fact that it was proposed adds another blemish to FIFA's already damaged reputation. This summer's outstanding World Cup was yet another reminder that the tournament thrives in spite of FIFA's involvement, not because of it. No matter how much FIFA and its officials exploit the sport for personal gain or forge ties with authoritarian regimes, the action on the pitch always eclipses the off-field misconduct. But handing the World Cup over to investors intent on squeezing every last dollar from the tournament represents the gravest threat to the game's future we have ever witnessed. 

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Dan Gartland authors Sports Illustrated's flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, and hosts the "Stadium Wonders" video series. He joined the SI staff in 2014, with prior bylines on Deadspin and Slate. A Fordham University graduate, Gartland is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).