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The European Union has joined the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in criticising FIFA’s controversial plan to launch a new commercial company with external investment to sell a stake in the World Cup.
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“The relentless commercialisation of football has become corrosive,” EU Commissioner for Sport Glenn Micallef wrote on X on Wednesday. He added that a possible alignment of FIFA’s regulatory powers with the financial interests of private entities is a concern for the European Commission.
FIFA announced on Tuesday it plans to create a $20 billion (around €17.6 billion) subsidiary to run the World Cup and other events, offering stakes of up to 20% to external investors. This would give FIFA members the chance “to access up to $20 million in one-off capital,” according to the statement on the plan.
The move provoked a furious response from UEFA, which accused the football governing body of putting the game’s “soul” up for sale.
“The European Commission will study these proposals carefully,” Micallef said in response to the announcement, flagging that under EU treaties sporting rules are subject to EU law where they may have an impact on the European economy.
FIFA is working with the New York-based JP Morgan while intended investors include Thrive Eternal, launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared is married to Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump.
The announcement has sparked criticism across the continent. “The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell,” UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in response.
Former FIFA President Josep Blatter also wrote on X that the “close relationship” between Infantino and the US President Donald Trump “has reached a financial dimension that is deeply damaging football.”
Beyond UEFA’s firm response, other associations expressed concern for the lack of due process.
“We were completely unaware of this proposal and have no substantive details,” said the English Football Association, the oldest one in the world.
The North-Central America Football Confederation (Concacaf) also stated it was only made aware of this matter through media reports. It regrets that the plan was shared publicly before any discussion among the governance bodies.
Sky News reported that European football associations are even weighing a boycott of the next World Cup if FIFA President Gianni Infantino pushes ahead with the plan. They will discuss the issue in an emergency virtual meeting this week.
FIFA is currently a Swiss-based not-for-profit association of its 211 national member federations worldwide, which must approve any plan first.
Infantino has given football associations until 19 September to back his plan, with a $40m (around €35.1 million) incentive to accept, British media report.
The world football governing body claims that long-term investors would be carefully selected and will purchase minority, non-controlling interests, with all net benefits to be reinvested back into football worldwide.