"The Soul of Football Is Not for Sale." UEFA to Hold Emergency Meeting Over FIFA's Plans to Attract Private Investors for Tournament Funding

UEFA will hold an emergency meeting to formulate its position regarding the controversial proposals by FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino concerning a new scheme for stakeholder participation in World Cup revenues, BBC writes.

The European football union has long been in confrontation with the international football association on a number of issues.

A new wave of criticism from UEFA arose after it became known that FIFA had sent a letter to all 211 national football associations, demanding that they express their position by September 19 on Gianni Infantino's proposal to attract private investments to fund tournaments at all levels.

According to FIFA, this approach will allow each national association to receive additional funding of 40 million dollars. The first tranche of 20 million dollars is promised to be transferred soon after these plans are approved.

However, critics of this initiative accuse Infantino of attempting to enrich himself and his entourage, as well as to enable influential friends to profit.

It is assumed that the attraction of investors in the new scheme will be handled by the investment company Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner — the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.

"We have been informed that FIFA has set a deadline for national associations by which they must support its proposals, otherwise the offer of a one-time payment will be withdrawn. This speaks everything one needs to know about this plan," UEFA's statement noted.

This is UEFA's second statement on the matter. In the first, the organization stated that FIFA had "crossed the line."

What is Infantino's plan?

In his letter to national associations, Infantino called the project "a single and unique financing opportunity" for international football through the transfer of a 20% share of commercial rights for FIFA tournaments to private investors.

For this purpose, as previously reported, FIFA plans to create a subsidiary structure, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), which will combine all commercial and operational assets of the organization.

FIFA expects to attract more than 4 billion dollars (out of the declared 20 billion) by the end of the year by selling investment packages to long-term investors.

According to the plan, FFE, while remaining under the full control of FIFA, will manage not only international competitions but also club championships of various countries.

Infantino is convinced that the new proposals will help finance better football fields, stronger national teams, expand opportunities for young footballers, and further develop women's football.

In his letter, he noted that if all stakeholders agree, "within the next financial cycle, which begins on January 1, 2027, each national association will be able to receive funding of up to 40 million dollars."

"If you prefer to maintain the status quo and reject this proposal, our previously presented expansion of the Forward program (football development funding program) with a total volume of 2.7 billion dollars will remain in effect," the letter states.

Infantino emphasized that the final decision rests entirely with the national associations.

"This is part of a democratic process, a consultation process. And first and foremost, it is an opportunity, not an obligation," he stated on Wednesday. "This is a unique opportunity to give new impetus to the development of football worldwide."

As an example of the positive results of its activities, FIFA cites the first-ever qualification for the World Cup by the national teams of Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan, although this was also facilitated by the expansion of the tournament participants to 48 teams.

FIFA also refers to "Formula 1," La Liga, Ligue 1, and the Bundesliga as examples of sports organizations that use specialized commercial structures.

The organization emphasizes that private investors will "under no circumstances" influence the conduct of World Cups.

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