FIFA has abandoned plans to sell stakes in a company which would run the commercial and operational aspects of its competitions.
Here, we take a look at how FIFA president Gianni Infantino's proposal rapidly unravelled in recent days.
28 July: FIFA announces plans to create a new commercial operation, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), bringing together the sale of FIFA’s commercial rights with the operational delivery of its tournaments. Thrive Eternal – a company launched in April by Joshua Kushner, the brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – is identified as the proposed lead investor.
UEFA, in a statement responding to coverage of FIFA’s announcement in The Times, says: "This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross… The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade."
US Congressman Jamie Raskin accuses FIFA of "going directly into business with the Trump family" by "pursuing a multibillion-dollar deal with Jared Kushner’s brother to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors".
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says "Football does not belong to investors" and that "The World Cup is not a product… it was never anyone’s to sell".
29 July: The Football Association says it was "completely unaware" of FIFA’s proposal prior to its announcement and is "deeply concerned about the lack of process and governance to get to this point, and the apparent substance and principles involved". A similar sentiment is echoed by the Welsh and Scottish FAs.
Further details emerge of a 19 September deadline for FIFA member associations to support the plan in order to access an initial payment of 20 million US dollars (€17.35m). UEFA responds: "This says everything you need to know about this plan… FIFA cannot continue to use our sport to enrich themselves and their friends."
30 July: UEFA holds an emergency meeting after which it announces: "No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership."
CONCACAF, the confederation representing North and Central American FAs, also rejects the proposal while the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) says the issue "has exposed fundamental weaknesses in FIFA’s consultation and decision-making processes that must now be addressed".
FIFA issues a statement headed "Clarifications on FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal" in which it claims "incorrect media reports" disrupted the consultation process and insists: "Nobody is selling football."
31 July: Infantino’s senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigns over the proposal while FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour describes FFE as "a project of one person".
Trump, asked if he discussed FFE with Infantino, tells reporters: "No, I never spoke to him."
1 August: In a statement released in the early hours of the morning, FIFA announces the FFE proposal "will not proceed" and acknowledges "it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that… are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place".
UEFA responded: "The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA's confidence but also that of many other members of the football family… The proposal has gone. The task of rebuilding trust in FIFA has only just begun."
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Source: RTE
