FIFA Presses Ahead With FFE Sale Despite UEFA Boycott
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- FIFA launched a consultation on selling stakes in a new commercial venture called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to private investors, prompting UEFA's 55 member associations to unanimously threaten a boycott of all FIFA tournaments unless the proposal is abandoned in its entirety.
- UEFA demanded "binding assurances" that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership, declaring the opposition "unanimous and unequivocal" and insisting no European national teams will participate while the proposals remain alive.
- FIFA issued a statement insisting "nobody is selling football" but stopped short of withdrawing FFE, saying it will press ahead with the consultation period despite acknowledging that "incorrect media reports" had disrupted the planned process.
- CONCACAF joined the opposition, with its 41 member associations from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean formally rejecting the proposal in a separate statement.
- FIFA President Gianni Infantino has publicly backed FFE, with an investor group led by Thrive Eternal — founded by Joshua Kushner, brother of U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner — waiting in the wings to secure a minority stake in the new venture.
- European and world leagues also oppose the plan, fearing commercial imperatives will push FIFA toward bigger and more frequent tournaments that eat further into domestic match schedules.
Why it matters: UEFA's unanimous threat to pull all 55 member associations from FIFA tournaments directly undercuts FFE's pitch of "huge returns" to member associations, since the source notes those promised returns depend on European involvement in the World Cup. FIFA is pressing ahead anyway despite opposition from UEFA, CONCACAF, and the world leagues, betting its commercial partners will accept FFE without the sport's wealthiest and most influential bloc.
