The football world is on the brink of all-out civil war after news broke that FIFA president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell a slice of the men’s World Cup to private investors.
European governing body UEFA have been butting heads with Infantino for years and the FIFA boss’ brinkmanship might have finally gone too far.
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Under a scheme that would make Infantino personally very wealthy, the 56-year-old Swiss football administrator would establish a new commercial subsidiary to run FIFA’s business operations and events, called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
FIFA have valued FFE at US$20 billion (AUD$29bn) with the global governing body to have a majority share.
They propose to hand a 20 per cent share to the 221 member nations, while a 20 to 30 per cent share would be sold to private investors.
‘NOT YOURS TO SELL’: WC plunged into turmoil as FIFA ‘nuclear bomb’ set to spark stunning revolt
That would include a one-off lump sum of US$20 million to each national federation – a US$12m increase for what they are budgeted to receive from FIFA during the 2027-2030 World Cup cycle.
Infantino is proposing that nations could use that money for projects like new stadiums, national training centres and other pieces of long-term infrastructure.
That all sounds quite nice for poorer federations around the world, but there are several big catches.
Infantino’s motivations for the project have come into question with The Times, who broke the story, reporting that he would receive a pay increase of more than ten times his current US$6m a year salary.
It would bring him close to being on par with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s whopping annual salary, which was US$64m the last time it was disclosed in 2021.
It is a big change from 2016 when Infantino’s first act as FIFA president was to take a flight from Geneva to Bristol on budget airline easyJet, telling reporters: “We are normal people and we have to behave like normal people.”
A FIFA spokesperson was asked by The Athletic whether the projections of Infantino’s salary were correct, they replied: “This has never been discussed.
“However, the FIFA president and administration will and must have leading roles in this entity — if approved — to always be in control of any FIFA subsidiary in accordance with the statutes and regulations for the benefit of FIFA member associations.”
The Telegraph’s chief sports writer Oliver Brown wrote that the personal financial benefits showed that Infantino is a “gaslighter extraordinaire”.
While The Independent’s chief football writer Miguel Delany summed up the outrage by pointing to headlines leading newspapers and website around the world that read: “Shocking.” “Football’s nuclear bomb.” “Worse than the Super League, and bigger than 115.” “The line in the sand.”
“None of that is exaggerated,” he wrote.
“Because it ties together so many of the extremes that have been pushing, pulling and twisting football, let alone the world, for so long, potentially crystallising so much of what has been coming to dictate its future: what the game should be and what it’s becoming; how it repeatedly shows it has a social value that you can’t buy as so many involved try to financially exploit that; what people say in private and what gets done in public.”
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DODGY DEALINGS SURROUND FIFA’S PRIVATE EQUITY PLAN
The other massive catch would be surrendering partial control of the World Cup to private investors.
Among those Infantino has courted to put their capital in the new enterprise is US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s investment company Thrive Capital.
Kushner’s involvement comes off the back of years of a questionable relationship between Infantino and Trump.
It was brought into the spotlight during the World Cup when USA striker Folarin Balogun’s red card was overturned after Trump called Infantino to request that FIFA reassess the decision.
And it was unavoidable when the pair presented the World Cup trophy to Spain captain Rodri after the final and Infantino tried, and failed, to usher Trump off stage and out of the team photo.
Those were just some of many instances where the pair’s dealings raised eyebrows, however.
Infantino set up FIFA offices in Trump Tower in New York in the years leading up to the tournament.
He also showed up late to FIFA’s congress in Paraguay last year because he had been in the Middle East with Trump.
And who could forget the infamous FIFA Peace Prize awarded to the US President whose administration then denied referees and other officials from coming to the World Cup?
The list truly goes on and all those instances are why US congressman Jamie Raskin has opened an investigation into Infantino’s relationship with Trump.
The Democrat from Maryland wants documents on gifts, payments and communication between FIFA and the Trump administration.
He also wants visitor logs from FIFA’s office in Trump Tower.
Concerns over potential dodgy dealings are running rampant. Those concerns aren’t exactly allayed if even Infantino’s predecessor Sep Blatter, who is currently banned from football for corruption, thinks the whole situation sits uncomfortably.
“The close relationship between the FIFA President and the US President has reached a financial dimension that is deeply damaging football. No one has the right to sell our game,” the former FIFA president posted on social media.
Aside from the murky waters in which the Infantino-Trump relationship exists, there is also the bigger question about handing over some control to private investors.
It is an issue that cricket has been wrestling with in recent times due to the growth in the power of Indian Premier League franchises.
Wealthy owners have been snapping up satellite teams in domestic leagues around the world.
Australia’s state bodies and the national body Cricket Australia are in a fight right now about the push to privatise the Big Bash League.
Because once the reigns are handed over to private enterprises, they can take the game in any direction they like.
“What do they think happens once you allow such interests in? There might be the short-term benefit of being able to point your own national association to newly flush cash reserves of up to $20m – but what next?” The Independent’s Miguel Delaney wrote.
“Clue: such interests don’t tend to have wider societal concerns; they don’t care for what doesn’t make money. As one source puts it, “the current stakeholders benefit but everyone loses out in the future”.
“Trickle-down economics don’t work here, as the last few decades of football have made emphatically clear. This is why Celtic or Ajax don’t win the Champions League any more. It’s why every other country suffers a talent drain to western Europe.”
That quest for cash from private investors is why Europe now feels under threat.
CIVIL WAR MAY BE ABOUT TO ERUPT
FIFA and UEFA have been at loggerheads for many years.
The power struggle has consumed the sport and is now at boiling point.
UEFA released a statement saying FIFA “crossed a line” with the reversal of Balogun’s red card.
They went even harder this time.
“This crosses a line that the institutions governing football should never cross,” UEFA’s statement read. “None of us owns football.”
That powerful five-word sentence might be where the core of this problems lies, however.
“Infantino acts as if he does, however. He is a pure megalomaniac, emboldened to engineer the worst stitch-ups in plain sight,” The Telegraph’s Oliver Brown wrote.
Basically ever since Infantino took over from Blatter as FIFA boss a decade ago, he has had UEFA – who was previously secretary-general of – in his sights.
UEFA make a lot of money.
The European governing body reportedly make €5 billion to €6.5 billion in revenue every year.
That is largely off the back of the Champions League with revenue spiking in a year that boasts the Euros – which will next be held in Great Britain and Ireland in 2028.
FIFA, on the other hand, reportedly made a record US$15b in revenue this World Cup – almost double what was made four years ago with almost US$9b coming from the tournament itself.
They are numbers that will please Infantino, who also expanded last year’s Club World Cup with the aspiration for the tournament to eventually take over from the Champions League as the world’s premier club competition.
But he clearly wants more and he has obliging voting members, who are more than willing to lap up the extra cash.
“Already swimming in money, he wants to be drowning in it. In his warped realm, too much is never enough,” Brown wrote.
Europe’s heavyweights, on the other hands, are furious and are extremely concerned about the impact such a move could have in their own backyards.
That is why the European national federations are reportedly coming together on Thursday to deliberate on how they should handle this matter.
A boycott, which would have a massive impact on next year’s women’s World Cup in Brazil, is among the options that will be discussed.
“Hawking a slice of the World Cup, for all its flaws the most cherished competition in sport, should be the cue for outright rebellion,” Brown wrote.
“UEFA should have the courage of its convictions and issue a warning to secede. For what would the event be, ultimately, without Europe? The continent had six of eight quarter-finalists this year and three of four semi-finalists.
“Why does UEFA not hatch a move to strike out without FIFA? If (UEFA president Aleksander) Ceferin abhors Infantino so much, he should cut him adrift altogether.
“That way, the FIFA president might finally see how much the loyalty of Vanuatu or a lifetime achievement award from the Central African Republic really means.”
UEFA has been urged by many of the games prominent voices to flex their muscles.
On recent occasions, they have been guilty of having little bite to go with their bark.
They staged a walkout at last year’s FIFA congress in protest of Infantino turning up late because of his gallivanting with Trump.
While UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin refused to attend the World Cup final earlier this month where one of his members, Spain, won their second world title.
Former Liverpool player Stan Collymore suggested now is the time for stronger action, saying UEFA should split from FIFA.
“UEFA’s power base is 10, 20, 1,000 times more. It’s where all the players, storeyed clubs, monster crowds, greatest coaches, referees and sheer size of football infrastructure is,” Collymore said.
A senior English football executive told BBC Sport privately FIFA’s privatisation push is the biggest story since the European Super League plan that crumbled under the weight of fan backlash in 2021.
That proposal was to have Europe’s biggest clubs, including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Liverpool, breakaway from the Champions League to form their own continental competition without the pesky condition of qualification.
UEFA are once again concerned that the Champions League could come under threat.
But this time it would be from the Club World Cup.
“The issue is if there is a drive to generate more finance through FIFA competitions, that will mean expansion – both in the number of teams and the frequency of both the World Cup and the Club World Cup,” the BBC’s chief football news reporter Simon Stone wrote.
“Some also feel the scale of the tournaments will be such they may end up being played in the winter months.
“That would put more pressure on the calendar, which is already being squeezed at domestic level, partly because of the expansion of European competition.
“And the basic reality is that while $20m is not a significant sum in the English game, for many countries globally, it is huge – and will be supported.”
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