The news on Tuesday, first reported by the Financial Times, that FIFA is preparing to sell off part of its commercial operations spread shock and outrage across the sporting world. Football’s world governing body plans to sell a 21 per cent slice in FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a new subsidiary under which commercial operations and events — such as the World Cup, which, as detailed recently by The Athletic, is the key driver in FIFA’s finances — will be consolidated. By Wednesday night, three of the six confederations under FIFA’s hand had criticised the move, as had several member associations — none of whom were apparently consulted before plans broke into the public domain.
FIFA has said the new subsidiary, to be known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) would be valued at $20 billion and that it would aim to raise up to $4.2 billion "this year" by "carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests" in the company. The letter sent to member federations said that an initial $10 billion funding package would be available if the plan is approved, compares to $2.7 billion if it is rejected.
The governing body of European football has led the furious response to Infantino’s proposals and called an emergency meeting to discuss how to they can leverage their position. Uefa will hold an emergency meeting of its 55 members on Thursday afternoon to discuss their next steps, with a senior source telling the Guardian on Thursday morning that a boycott of Fifa tournaments would be the main discussion point. Uefa, which previously said that Infantino’s plans “crossed a line”, will hold their emergency meeting with its 55 member associations virtually and knows it will require support from another confederation to block Infantino’s plans.