2026-07-31T22:38:08+00:00
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Shafaq News
Opposition to FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s proposed $20
billion tournament venture spread inside the governing body on Friday, with
Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour accusing its leadership of deceiving
employees and senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigning in protest.
Lamour described FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) as the
“project of one person” and argued that staff had been misled over plans to
bring private investors into the commercial and operational business of the
World Cup and other FIFA competitions.
“Our mission is to serve football, not to serve the personal
interests of a person who, unfortunately, believes he embodies FIFA when he is
supposed to be at its service,” Lamour wrote in a statement shared with the
Associated Press.
Cordeiro, a former US Soccer Federation president and FIFA
senior adviser for global strategy and governance, resigned immediately,
stating that he had not helped prepare the proposal and opposed it
“unequivocally.”
He described the project as “a bad deal” for FIFA’s member
associations and football’s long-term future, questioning why the governing
body would permanently sell part of its tournament business to raise $4.2
billion despite holding substantial reserves, carrying no debt and generating
about $15 billion between 2022 and 2026.
FIFA Defends Tournament Company
FIFA stated that it would continue consulting its 211 member
associations and blamed what it described as inaccurate reporting for
disrupting the process.
“Nobody is selling football,” the governing body declared,
affirming that the project would not proceed without majority support from its
members.
Under the proposal, FFE would combine FIFA’s tournament
operations and commercial activities in a subsidiary valued at about $20
billion. Private investors could acquire non-controlling stakes totaling up to
20%, generating as much as $4.2 billion, while FIFA would retain control over
sporting regulations, competition formats and governance.
Reuters reported that Thrive Eternal, an investment vehicle
linked to Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital, was expected to lead the proposed
investor group.
FIFA argues that the model would expand football-development
funding. Infantino has asked associations to respond by September 19 and
offered a package potentially worth up to $40 million per member through
increased FIFA Forward allocations and optional one-off project capital.
Confederations Reject the Proposal
UEFA’s 55 associations unanimously rejected FFE and agreed
that their national teams would boycott FIFA competitions while the proposal
remained active.
Concacaf, which represents 41 associations, also opposed the
project, citing inadequate consultation, procedural concerns and the compressed
decision-making timetable, but did not join UEFA’s boycott.
The 47-member Asian Football Confederation expressed
solidarity with UEFA and Concacaf, questioned whether the plan remained viable
without support from three of FIFA’s six confederations and stopped short of
announcing a boycott.
The three confederations contain 143 of FIFA’s 211
associations, although each federation retains its own vote and is not
automatically bound by its confederation’s position.