UEFA blasts FIFA’s $20 billion investment plan for World Cup rights

UEFA moved quickly to confront FIFA’s plan to open the World Cup to private capital, calling an emergency meeting of its 55 member associations after Gianni Infantino proposed a new commercial entity that could sell minority stakes to outside investors. The clash is not just over financing. UEFA leaders said the move was unacceptable and warned that “the soul and governance of football are not assets to trade.”

FIFA’s proposal would create a company later described as a $20 billion subsidiary, or FIFA Forward Enterprise, to run the World Cup and other FIFA events. Reuters reported that FIFA would offer as much as 20% of the entity to external investors, a structure that would give private backers a direct claim on future tournament revenues. That is the heart of the backlash from Europe’s biggest federations: once investors buy into the vehicle that controls the sport’s most valuable competition, they could gain leverage over how its commercial returns are managed for years to come.

The money at stake is enormous. FIFA said the plan could expand football development funding by $10 billion if member associations approve it. Infantino gave FIFA’s 211 member associations until Sept. 19 to back the proposal, creating a hard deadline for a vote that could determine whether the sport’s flagship tournament remains fully under federation control or becomes partially owned by outside capital. Some reports said each member association could receive $40 million if the plan passes, underscoring the financial inducement built into the pitch.

Infantino has tried to frame the plan as optional rather than compulsory. Reuters reported that he called it “a proposal, not an obligation.” But that reassurance has done little to calm Europe, where UEFA’s leadership sees the transaction as a structural shift in governance, not a routine capital raise. CBS News also reported that a source close to Joshua Kushner’s firm said there was no political motive behind FIFA’s effort to draw private investment, even as the plan drew criticism from across the football establishment.

The dispute lands after FIFA’s 2026 World Cup and opens a broader fight over who captures the commercial upside of the tournament. If FIFA sells even a minority stake in the entity that controls World Cup revenues, investors would not just be financing football. They would be buying a slice of the game’s most powerful cash engine, and that could permanently alter how the sport’s marquee event is owned, governed and monetized.