(FILES) This photo taken on October 8, 2015 in Zurich shows the doorway sign with the brand on the FIFA world headquarters. FIFA vowed on July 31, 2026 to press ahead with an \u201copen and democratic\u201d consultation on a proposed private investment plan despite widespread opposition to the proposal. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI \/ AFP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
World football\u2019s governing body FIFA vowed on Friday to press ahead with an \u201copen and democratic\u201d consultation on a proposed private investment plan despite widespread opposition to the proposal.<\/p>\n
That opposition included a pledge by Europe\u2019s governing body UEFA to boycott the World Cup if FIFA went ahead with its private investor plan.<\/p>\n
FIFA said in an announcement all of its member associations must have a probability to think about the plan.<\/p>\n
READ: FIFA \u2018strongly disapproves\u2019 of Super League\u2013Infantino<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cNo one is selling football,\u201d it said. \u201cThis shouldn’t be something FIFA would ever entertain.\u201d<\/p>\n It also said it had heard feedback from UEFA and CONCACAF, the governing body for football in North and Central America, which said all 41 of its member associations had rejected FIFA\u2019s proposal to sell a stake within the business operations of the World Cup.<\/p>\n The world body also said its planned consultation process had been \u201cdisrupted by incorrect media reports\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation,\u201d FIFA\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n READ: Infantino wants \u2018corruption\u2019 term back on FIFA ethics code<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to proceed with this consultation process to be certain that each (member association) has the flexibility to specific its vote based on facts,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n FIFA has said the plan it announced on Tuesday could raise as much as $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), the industrial subsidiary it proposed to run events equivalent to the World Cup and Club World Cup.<\/p>\n If approved, the project could provide each of FIFA\u2019s 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $20 million in early 2027 and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $8.0 million to $20 million.<\/p>\n Private investors can be allowed under the proposal to accumulate stakes in the corporate but would remain minority shareholders.<\/p>\n FIFA President Gianni Infantino waves at the tip of FIFA\u2019s seventy fifth Congress on the Conmebol Convention Center in Luque, Paraguay, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Calistro)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n UEFA said in an earlier statement none of its national teams would take part in any FIFA competition \u201cfor as long as these proposals remain alive\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe World Cup can’t be treated as an investment product\u2026 No a part of it should ever be surrendered to personal investors. The World Cup shouldn’t be on the market,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n FIFA president Gianni Infantino described the initiative on Wednesday as a \u201cgolden opportunity to turbocharge the event of the sport globally\u201d.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, who boycotted the World Cup final to point out unhappiness with FIFA, said there was no place in world football for such a model.<\/p>\n \u201cFootball\u2019s future can’t be dictated by the expectations of those whose first duty is to maximise financial return,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNor can the interests of national associations, leagues, clubs, players and supporters develop into subordinate to investor returns. Football cannot mortgage its future for financial gain.\u201d<\/p>\n Several leading European federations and European Union officials also criticised the proposal as one other step within the commercialisation of sport, while also raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n The EU praised UEFA on Thursday for \u201cdefending the integrity of the sport\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cProud to see Europe\u2019s football associations leading on governance, standing firm on their principles,\u201d European commissioner for sports Glenn Micallef said in a social media post.<\/p>\n CONCACAF members, including the three co-hosts of the recent World Cup, unanimously rejected the proposal on Thursday.<\/p>\n It said \u201cthe membership expressed deep concerns in regards to 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\u201d.<\/p>\n The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has also expressed concern that the FIFA proposal was made public before all 211 member associations were fully consulted.<\/p>\n The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has also urged its members to review FIFA\u2019s divisive plan.<\/p>\n UEFA said in its statement on Thursday that the World Cup was \u201cone in all football\u2019s biggest sporting legacies\u201d and described the proposal as \u201ca failure of leadership\u201d and \u201cgovernance by intimidation\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s each irresponsible and indefensible that a proposal of such significance for football was conceived in secret and delivered to the brink of approval with none meaningful consultation with those entrusted with stewarding the sport,\u201d UEFA said.<\/p>\n \u201cNational associations world wide are actually presented with an ultimatum \u2014 accept the irreversible capture of football\u2019s biggest competitions or bear the implications.<\/p>\n\u00a0\u2018Never again\u2019<\/h2>\n
![\"FIFA](\"https:\/\/sports.inquirer.net\/files\/2025\/05\/AP25135718041660-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u00a0\u2018Never on the market\u2019<\/h2>\n