FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to create a $20 billion company running the World Cup with private investors including the Kushner family. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin sensationally boycotted the World Cup final in New Jersey following the Folarin Balogun row. FIFA said in a statement that FFE would raise up to $4.2 billion later this year to help fund development programs "based on an initial equity valuation of $20 billion by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests." FIFA said that FFE would be FIFA-owned and would consolidate FIFA's commercial and event operations.
FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a FIFA-owned company, would bring together its commercial rights, including broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing, alongside the operational delivery of FIFA tournaments. Under the proposal, FIFA would raise up to $4.2bn (£3.1bn) from external investors through the sale of minority, non-controlling stakes in FFE, which it says would be valued at around $20bn (£15bn). The governing body also stressed that any outside investors would only hold a minority stake and that the investment would be in a FIFA subsidiary rather than FIFA itself. Any proposal would need to be approved through FIFA's democratic structures.
Thrive Capital, whose chief executive is Josh Kushner, is expected to lead the proposed investor group. FIFA is working with bankers at JPMorgan to raise billions of dollars by bringing in external investors to take as much as a 20% stake in the entity, a source said. The source added that former Liberty Media FWONA.O CEO Greg Maffei has been involved as a commercial adviser on the creation of the FIFA enterprise.
Those 211 members must approve any plan and would get the chance "to access up to $20 million in one-off capital," FIFA said. The additional funding would allow it to increase payments to its 211 member associations through its FIFA Forward programme, raising funding from the currently budgeted $8m to $20m per association for the 2027-2030 cycle, FIFA said. Member associations could also access up to $20m in optional one-off funding for major projects through a new FIFA Fast Forward Programme.
The report added that Infantino could become the commissioner of that company once his role at FIFA ends in 2031, a highly lucrative position that estimates suggest could pay him more than $50million-a-year. Infantino's proposed new role could be extremely lucrative. Figures close to the plan are said to see it on a par with the NFL, whose commissioner Roger Goodell earns about $64million a year. The move to a new model could see Infantino become commissioner, with some suggesting the salary for that position could be on par with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell who earns $64million (£48m) a year, around 10 times as much as the FIFA chief's earnings.