Gianni Infantino is not blinking. FIFA issued a statement on Friday confirming it will push its FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal to a vote, less than 24 hours after UEFA’s members unanimously threatened to walk away from the World Cup itself.
“Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain,” the governing body said, adding that its “planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports.”
How the $20 billion FFE plan is structured
FFE is the vehicle FIFA has proposed to sell a 20% minority stake in its commercial and tournament business, the World Cup and Club World Cup included, at a $20 billion equity valuation.
That would raise roughly $4.2 billion, with Joshua Kushner’s New York firm Thrive Eternal lined up to lead the investor group.
Every member association would be eligible for a one-off development payment of $20 million in early 2027 if the proposal is approved.
At least 90 of FIFA’s 211 members are already publicly opposed. UEFA’s 55 nations voted on Thursday, Concacaf’s 41 members did the same day, and Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa warned that FIFA’s “unilateral actions appear to undermine the very foundations of continental football.”
UEFA calls the plan “irresponsible and indefensible”
UEFA’s language on Thursday was the sharpest.
Its executive committee called the FFE rollout “irresponsible and indefensible” and accused FIFA of “an act of coercion” for dangling development cash in front of smaller federations.
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“No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive,” the confederation said.
President Aleksander Ceferin added that “football’s future cannot be dictated by the expectations of those whose first duty is to maximise financial return.”
September 19 turns the vote into a whip count
By keeping the timetable, FIFA has effectively turned the consultation into a whip count.
Each of the 211 associations must register its position by September 19, and a simple majority of 106 votes is enough to pass FFE.
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The 90 nations already on record against the plan need only to hold their line and pick up a small handful of allies.
FIFA, in turn, is betting that once the offer of $20 million per federation is placed in front of every member, the arithmetic will change.
Concacaf has signalled it will not go quietly, citing “the lack of due process” and an “artificially short deadline” and questioning why private capital is needed after the most profitable World Cup in history.
The next confederation to move is CAF, whose executive committee is assessing the proposal.
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