FIFA announced plans Tuesday to create a new commercial subsidiary that will run its main events and will be available for external investors to buy a minority stake in.
The new subsidiary, called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), will consolidate the organization’s commercial and event operations, including the World Cup and Club World Cup, while FIFA will remain soccer’s global governing body and will retain a majority stake in FFE.
The proposal will soon be presented to the 211 member associations and FIFA’s 37-member council, which would be the sole final decision-makers, a FIFA spokesperson said.
FIFA said the move is part of a plan that could triple the amount of development money for member associations, allowing access to up to $20 million in one-off capital to spend on improvements to infrastructure, coaching, national teams, competitions, grassroots football and the women’s game.
President Gianni Infantino said every member association should be able to seek a fair share of available funding to shape its own future.
“This is about the democratization of football worldwide,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
The proposal would allow FIFA to invite external investors to purchase minority, non-controlling stakes in FFE, with FIFA maintaining sole control and “exclusive authority” over football governance, competitions, the match calendar and all regulatory and sporting decisions.
“Outside investors will have only a minority stake in FFE and will not play any operational role,” FIFA said. “Equally, they are investing in a subsidiary of FIFA, and not in FIFA itself. For FIFA, nothing changes.”
FIFA is working with bankers at JPMorgan to bring in external investors, according to multiple reports.
Already one of the world’s wealthiest sports organizations with billions of dollars in revenue, FIFA says the money raised can help expand access to the sport around the world.
“Football is the world’s most popular sport and an extraordinary engine of human and social development,” Infantino said in Tuesday’s statement.
“Parts of the game have turned that popularity into remarkable commercial value — and we celebrate that success and want it to continue, because it lifts the whole game. Our job is to make sure the rest of football grows with it: FIFA exists to support sustainable, inclusive development in every corner of the world.”
News of the proposal was not greeted with enthusiasm by European football’s governing body UEFA, which has taken issue with the idea of selling the sport’s assets to private investors and sovereign wealth funds.
“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said in a statement Tuesday.
“UEFA takes it extremely seriously. So should every national football association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game.
“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”
–Field Level Media
