Paris (France) (AFP) – World football’s governing body FIFA vowed on Friday to press ahead with an “open and democratic” consultation on a proposed private investment plan despite widespread opposition to the proposal. That opposition included a pledge by Europe’s governing body UEFA to boycott the World Cup if FIFA went ahead with its private investor plan. FIFA said in a statement all of its member associations should have a chance to consider the plan.
“Nobody is selling football,” it said. “This is not something FIFA would ever entertain.” 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’s proposal to sell a stake in the business operations of the World Cup. The world body also said its planned consultation process had been “disrupted by incorrect media reports”.
“We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation,” FIFA’s statement said. “We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each (member association) has the ability to express its vote based on facts,” it said. FIFA has said the plan it announced on Tuesday could raise up to $4.2 billion based on a valuation of $20 billion for the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), the commercial subsidiary it proposed to run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup. If approved, the project could provide each of FIFA’s 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. Private investors would be allowed under the proposal to acquire stakes in the company but would remain minority shareholders.
– ‘Never again’ – UEFA said in an earlier statement none of its national teams would participate in any FIFA competition “for so long as these proposals remain alive”. “The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product… No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale,” it said. FIFA president Gianni Infantino described the initiative on Wednesday as a “golden opportunity to turbocharge the development of the game globally”. However, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, who boycotted the World Cup final to show unhappiness with FIFA, said there was no place in world football for such a model.
“Football’s future cannot be dictated by the expectations of those whose first duty is to maximise financial return,” he said. “Nor can the interests of national associations, leagues, clubs, players and supporters become subordinate to investor returns. Football cannot mortgage its future for financial gain.” Several leading European federations and European Union officials also criticised the proposal as another step in the commercialisation of sport, while also raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest. The EU praised UEFA on Thursday for “defending the integrity of the game”. “Proud to see Europe’s football associations leading on governance, standing firm on their principles,” European commissioner for sports Glenn Micallef said in a social media post.
CONCACAF members, including the three co-hosts of the recent World Cup, unanimously rejected the proposal on Thursday. It said “the membership 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”. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has also expressed concern that the FIFA proposal was made public before all 211 member associations were fully consulted. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has also urged its members to review FIFA’s divisive plan.
– ‘Never for sale’ – UEFA said in its statement on Thursday that the World Cup was “one of football’s greatest sporting legacies” and described the proposal as “a failure of leadership” and “governance by intimidation”. “It is both irresponsible and indefensible that a proposal of such significance for football was conceived in secret and brought to the brink of approval without any meaningful consultation with those entrusted with stewarding the game,” UEFA said. “National associations around the world are now presented with an ultimatum — accept the irreversible capture of football’s greatest competitions or bear the consequences. Some things are simply too important to sell. The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale.”
© 2024 AFP
