FIFA wants new company to run World Cup; Guess who is expected to fund it

Football World Cup is one of the most watched and revenue-generating sporting events in the world. So how can FIFA, football's global governing body, turn away from making even more money from its biggest cash cow?

It appears to have found a way. FIFA has said it plans to create a $20 billion subsidiary to run the World Cup and its other events. Under the proposal, FIFA would establish FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to oversee its "commercial and event operations."

To achieve this, FIFA is ready to offer stakes of up to 20 per cent in the new entity to external investors. However, it is not willing to give up control. FIFA said it would retain majority ownership while offering minority stakes to private investors to raise up to $4.2 billion.

But the controversial part is not the plan itself. It is the people expected to lead the proposed investor group. And it is not an outsider, but someone closely linked to the Trump family.

A vehicle founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, is expected to lead the investor group, FIFA said.

And the proposal did not emerge without opposition. The first to raise objections was European football's governing body, UEFA. It accused world football's governing body of putting the game's "soul" up for sale.

"UEFA takes it extremely seriously," it said in a statement. "So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game," it said.

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

UEFA's criticism of FIFA is not new. Relations between the two organisations have deteriorated in recent years, and UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin refused to attend the World Cup final following a series of disagreements over disciplinary procedures, refereeing logistics and match operations.

FIFA also recently staged a 48-team World Cup across the United States, Canada and Mexico — the biggest in the tournament's history. That decision, too, was initially scrutinised from several quarters around the globe.

But FIFA has defended the latest move as being in the best interests of the sport.

"Football is the world's most popular sport and an extraordinary engine of human and social development," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement. "Parts of the game have turned that popularity into remarkable commercial value – and we celebrate that success and want it to continue, because it lifts the whole game," he added.

FIFA is now preparing to present the proposal to its 211 member associations and the FIFA Council, which will have the final say on the matter.

FIFA said the money raised through the capital raise would be used to establish an optional programme that would allow member associations to access up to $20 million in one-off funding for infrastructure, coaching, national teams, competitions, grassroots football and the women's game.

That amount would rise to $24 million during the 2035-2038 cycle. FIFA is also working with bankers at JPMorgan to bring in external investors and said former Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei has been involved as a commercial adviser.

Joshua Kushner-founded Thrive Eternal, a new investment strategy launched by venture capital firm Thrive Capital, is set to lead the investor group.

(With Reuters inputs)