Fifa's $10bn private investment plan for World Cup draws fire from Uefa and UK PM

Fifa announced this week that it wants to invite private investors into a new commercial subsidiary called Fifa Forward Enterprise, a move designed to funnel more than $10 billion into football development worldwide. The proposal, first reported by the Financial Times and the Times, would allow minority investors to take stakes in the operation while Fifa retains control of governance and competition rules. An American venture capital firm called Thrive Eternal, founded by Joshua Kushner—brother of Jared Kushner, who is close to Donald Trump—is expected to lead the investor group. The plan still requires approval from Fifa's 211 member nations, a vote likely to happen at the Fifa Congress in Morocco in March.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino framed the initiative as a way to ensure that all corners of the football world benefit from the sport's commercial success. Every member association would be eligible to receive up to $20 million in one-time capital for development projects. Infantino said the organization has a duty to make sure football grows together, that the riches generated by the game's popularity should lift the whole sport, not just the parts that have already turned that popularity into money. Fifa sources told BBC Sport there has been no discussion of Infantino becoming chief executive of the new subsidiary, though the organization said he and others would have a duty to control the project's development—a formulation that left the specifics deliberately vague.

The proposal has triggered sharp pushback from European football's governing body and from the UK's Prime Minister. Uefa issued a statement saying the plan crosses a line that football's governing institutions should never cross, arguing that the soul and governance of football are not assets to be traded, especially with no transparency about who profits. Andy Burnham, in a post on X, was more direct: football belongs to the fans and the people who fill the stands, not to investors. The World Cup is not a product to be sold, he wrote. Once you sell a piece of it, you have sold out. The Football Association said it was unaware of Fifa's plans when they were announced.

The deeper concern, according to football finance experts and senior executives in the game, is what happens next. If private investors are brought in, they will expect returns. That pressure almost certainly means expansion—more teams in the World Cup, possibly a 64-team format instead of the current 32. It could mean the World Cup happens every two years instead of every four. Some worry tournaments could shift to winter months to maximize scheduling flexibility. The calendar is already strained at the domestic level, squeezed by the expansion of European competitions. A senior English football executive told BBC Sport that this announcement ranks as the biggest story since the failed European Super League proposal, and raises just as many concerns about who controls the game and for what purpose.

Fifa argues that its structure mirrors what other sports have done. Premiership Rugby partnered with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners in 2018. But Uefa sees a fundamental difference. The organization says it takes the matter extremely seriously and believes every national football association and every stakeholder who cares about the game's future should too. The question of whether $20 million is a meaningful incentive for poorer nations—it is enormous for many countries, modest for England—will likely shape how member nations vote. The proposal will be discussed at Fifa's Council meeting in the autumn and again around the Intercontinental Cup in December, before the March vote. What remains uncertain is how the various stakeholders—associations, leagues, clubs, and players—will ultimately respond to a plan that promises development funding but threatens to reshape the competitions that define the sport.