UEFA blasts FIFA proposal to allow for $10B in World Cup private investment - ESPN

UEFA has rejected a FIFA plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors as a «line that football's governing institutions should never cross» and that the World Cup is «not FIFA's to sell.»

FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to create a $20 billion company running the World Cup with private investors including the Kushner family.

Infantino's plans to form a new entity called the «FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE)» running competitions like the World Cup and Club World Cup were first reported by The Times of London and the Financial Times.

FIFA said in a statement that FFE would raise up to $4.2 billion later this year to help fund development programs «based on an initial equity valuation of $20 billion by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests.»

FIFA is working with J.P. Morgan while investors would include Thrive Eternal launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is a son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The men's World Cup that finished this month only deepened the political and personal ties between Trump and Infantino, and fueled concerns about those ties including from UEFA.

FIFA said that FFE would be FIFA-owned and would consolidate FIFA's commercial and event operations.

Should the proposal progress, it could lead to the World Cup being overseen by a company outside of FIFA — football's non-profit governing body.

FIFA and Infantino would face fierce opposition from UEFA, however, with the European governing body issuing a statement against the reported plan.

«This crosses a line that football's governing institutions should never cross,» the statement said. «UEFA takes it extremely seriously. So should