{"id":24275,"date":"2026-08-01T15:18:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T10:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24275"},"modified":"2026-08-01T15:18:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T10:18:42","slug":"fifa-scraps-plan-to-turn-world-cup-into-commercial-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24275","title":{"rendered":"FIFA Scraps Plan To Turn World Cup Into Commercial Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tFIFA on Friday said it would not move forward with a plan to create a $20 billion commercial arm of soccer\u2019s world governing body by selling stakes in the <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/world-cup\/\" id=\"auto-tag_world-cup\" data-tag=\"world-cup\">World Cup<\/a> and other events to private investors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe proposal had been met by <a data-id=\"1237006418\" data-type=\"post\" href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/07\/fifa-under-fire-over-plan-to-sell-world-cup-stake-to-joshua-kushner-investment-firm-1237006418\/\">a wave of criticism<\/a> by several soccer confederations from the time it was proposed just days ago, with major groups repping Europe, Asia and the Americas condemning the plan that would have radically restructured the global non-profit organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cHaving listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,\u201d FIFA president <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/gianni-infantino\/\" id=\"auto-tag_gianni-infantino\" data-tag=\"gianni-infantino\">Gianni Infantino<\/a> said in a statement released Friday evening. \u201cOur purpose has always been \u2014 and will always be \u2014 to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Statement attributable to the FIFA President<\/p>\n<p>The FIFA Forward Enterprise project was intended to provide a basis for further strengthening our FIFA Member Associations and our sport worldwide, especially in those countries where support is most needed. And more so, as we said\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FIFA Media (@fifamedia) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/fifamedia\/status\/2083334512818131199?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">July 31, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe plan, which Infantino announced Tuesday and contingent on a member vote, came on the heels of the summer\u2019s wildly profitable 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/fifa-world-cup\/\" id=\"auto-tag_fifa-world-cup\" data-tag=\"fifa-world-cup\">FIFA World Cup<\/a> hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The proposal would have created a commercial arm called FIFA Forward Enterprise, which was being valued at $20 billion. FFE would operate the commercial side of the sport as a dedicated business, with profits shared with member associations like UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (the Americas, which includes the U.S.) and Asia (the AFC).<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe World Cup is not a commercial enterprise, but FFE would allow it to be exploited by private investors. FIFA had said it would be the controlling shareholder, but that it had hoped to raise $4.2 billion by \u201ccarefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThrive Capital, an investment firm led by\u00a0Joshua Kushner, the brother of President\u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner, was among the investors approached, per reports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tReactions to commercializing the men\u2019s and women\u2019s World Cups and other major tournaments like the Club World Cup were swift. UEFA \u2014 home to World Cup winner Spain as well as semifinalists England and France and six of the eight quarterfinalists \u2014 said all 55 of its member states will boycott the World Cup if FIFA enacted the plan to sell stakes in the tournament to private investors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cThe World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product. It is one of football\u2019s greatest sporting legacies,\u201d it wrote after its membership voted in an emergency meeting Thursday. \u201cIt has been built over generations by players, national teams and supporters across every continent. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tCONCACAF and its 41 members also formally opposed the plan Thursday, questioning \u201cthe need for private equity investment to fund new and existing FIFA Forward programs following the most profitable\u00a0FIFA World Cup\u00a0in history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe AFC joined in opposition earlier today. The number of countries in the three federations is more than 140, well above the majority needed to reject the plan required ratification.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cThe FIFA Forward Enterprise project was intended to provide a basis for further strengthening our FIFA Member Associations and our sport worldwide, especially in those countries where support is most needed,\u201d FIFA said in its statement tonight. \u201cAnd more so, as we said from the outset, to do this only if a majority of the FIFA Member Associations were in support and always subject to a consultation process with them, the FIFA Council, the Confederations and wider stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tIt added: \u201cMoving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, particularly in those countries that mostly need our support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe next major tournament on the FIFA schedule is the 2027 Women\u2019s World Cup next summer in Brazil. The next men\u2019s World Cup is in 2030 co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FIFA on Friday said it would not move forward with a plan to create a $20 billion commercial arm of soccer\u2019s world governing body by selling stakes in the World Cup and other events to private investors. The proposal had been met by a wave of criticism by several soccer confederations from the time it&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Gianni-Infantino.jpg?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}