The plan, announced earlier this week, would see FIFA move their operational and commercial activities into a subsidiary organisation named 'FIFA Forward Enterprise' (FFE) that would be responsible for everything commercially related to its global tournaments from broadcasting deals to sponsorship, licencing and ticketing.
FIFA would then sell non-controlling stakes in FFE to outside private investment, generating both an instant cash injection for FIFA and its member associations and driving future commerical growth in FIFA's many World Cups and related events.
Head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, expects the move would raise as much as $US20 billion, much of which would be shared with its 211 member associations, including an immediate US$20 million payment for each member country should they vote in favour of the proposal.
A favourable vote looks immensely unlikely without significant consultation and amendments after UEFA unanimously voted in favour of boycotting future FIFA World Cups as long as the proposal remains in the works, whilst CONCACAF rejected the proposal and the Asian Football Confederation slammed it as 'totally unacceptable'.
It's not the first time a boycott threat has been made by UEFA, who in 2021 saw off Infantino's unsuccessful proposal to hold the World Cup every two years instead of its current four-year cycle.
Characterisations of the move as 'the selling off of world football' have been denied in return by FIFA, who reaffirmed what they strongly believed to be the merits of the proposal in a release to media and member federations.
"FFE has been proposed solely to ensure that all FIFA Member Associations (MAs) have the opportunity to take meaningful ownership of the commercial opportunity of football in their respective countries, and that this does not come at the cost of either the spirit or the governance of FIFA or football itself," the organisation said.
"Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain.
"Everyone has the right to express their opposition and to seek further clarification but no single entity can claim to represent all 211 MAs around the world.
"Each MA should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future. These are the democratic principles of FIFA."
FFE would been bankrolled by Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared and would sell 20% of its stake to private investment under Infantino, who this week described it as a "game-changing opportunity" in a letter to member associations.
In an attempt to clear up what they argued to be incorrect reporting, FIFA listed the following points in regards to Infantino's proposal:
• FFE would move FIFA’s commercial and operational event delivery activities into a subsidiary organisation that FIFA would own and control permanently.
• The commercial value created would be shared among all 211 MAs, enabling each MA to make meaningful investments in football in their respective countries.
• Under the proposal, each MA would receive USD 20 million of FIFA Forward Development funding over the next four years (2027-2030), irrespective of its individual support.
• This increased funding would come from the additional revenues generated by FFE through the more effective management of FIFA’s commercial operations, for the benefit of all MAs.
• The FIFA Fast Forward Programme is a one-off development funding of an additional USD 20 million per MA – participation would be fully voluntary for all MAs should the FFE proposal proceed – and would be financed by external investment without ceding control or altering FIFA’s governance structure in any way.
• Without the support of the majority of MAs, FIFA's commercial activities would remain unchanged. FFE would not be established.
Infantino has set member associations a deadline of September 19 to embrace his proposal or miss out on US$40m each in individual funding.
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
