Not selling football: FIFA clarifies investment plans

Amidst strong criticism and boycott threats from UEFA and CONCACAF, FIFA has issued a clarification on its FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, asserting it will 'never entertain' selling football to private parties and aims to ensure meaningful commercial ownership for all member nations through a democratic consultation process.

Key Points

FIFA clarified its FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal, stating it would 'never entertain' selling football to private parties and aims to ensure meaningful commercial ownership for all member nations.
The clarification came after UEFA unanimously voted to boycott FIFA World Cup and other competitions, and CONCACAF raised 'deep concerns' over the proposal.
FIFA asserts that FFE is designed to increase funding for member associations, with each potentially receiving USD 20 million over four years, financed by external investment without ceding control.
The organisation emphasised its commitment to an open and democratic consultation process, allowing each member federation to vote on the plan based on facts.
FIFA maintains that the 'spirit or the governance of FIFA and football' would not be compromised, and FFE would only be established with the support of the majority of member associations.

FIFA has presented a clarification over plans to sell stakes in its competitions to private investors by saying it plans to continue the consultation process. The body, which oversees world football, in its clarification on establishing the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) on Friday said that it would "never entertain" the idea of selling football to private parties, and the initiative wants to ensure meaningful ownership of commercial opportunity in the sport to all member nations with the "spirit or the governance of FIFA or football itself" not being the cost of it.

Initial Proposal and Concerns

FIFA had on Tuesday announced that it was seeking to launch FIFA Forward Enterprise to bring together the sale of FIFA's commercial rights, right from broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing, with the operational delivery of its tournaments. Under this proposal, FIFA would raise up to 4.2 billion USD (3.1 billion pounds) via external investors through the sale of minority, non-controlling stakes in FFE, which FIFA says will be valued at around 20 billion USD (15 billion pounds).

This move generated a lot of concern and anger from the football fraternity, particularly UEFA, who felt that the sport, particularly its showpiece event, the FIFA World Cup, was being put for sale. UEFA, the governing body of European football, on Thursday also said its member associations have unanimously voted to boycott the FIFA World Cup and all other FIFA competitions in protest against FIFA's plan to sell stakes in a subsidiary that will manage the global governing body's tournaments. Also, CONCACAF, the governing body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, said its members had raised "deep concerns" over the proposal, citing a lack of due process, an unusually short consultation period, and the absence of review or approval by FIFA's relevant governance bodies.

FIFA's Response and Reaffirmation

Now, responding to all the criticism from the football world, the official X handle of FIFA Media posted a clarification, saying,

"We have heard the feedback provided by the respective confederations in relation to the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and would like to address the issues that have surfaced since the initial media reporting on Tuesday."

FIFA, headed by president Gianni Infantino, said that it respects the feedback and concern aired in the public and reaffirmed its "commitment to an open and democratic consultation."

The world's football governing body said that their planned consultation process was "disrupted by incorrect media reports" and will proceed with it, giving a chance to each member federation to vote on the plan based on facts. FIFA also said that the "spirit or the governance of FIFA and football" would not be compromised.

"Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports. We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each MA has the ability to express its vote based on facts. FFE has been proposed solely to ensure that all FIFA Member Associations (MAs) have the opportunity to take meaningful ownership of the commercial opportunity of football in their respective countries, and that this does not come at the cost of either the spirit or the governance of FIFA or football itself. Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain," said FIFA.

"Everyone has the right to express their opposition and to seek further clarification but no single entity can claim to represent all 211 MAs around the world. Each MA should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future. These are the democratic principles of FIFA," the statement continued.

Benefits and Democratic Process

FIFA said that under their proposal, the newly-formed body will be owned and controlled by them, the commercial value will be shared among all members and the funding to each member association would be increased. It also pointed out that the 'FIFA Fast Forward Programme', a one-off development funding of an additional 20 million USD per member nation, would be fully voluntary for all members if the FFE proposal proceeds and "would be financed by external investment without ceding control or altering FIFA's governance structure in any way."

"Without the support of the majority of MAs, FIFA's commercial activities would remain unchanged. FFE would not be established," it added.

On a concluding note, FIFA said, "These components represent the starting point of the consultation process and are open for discussion as part of that process. This can include approval, rejection or amendment in their entirety or individually." "These principles underpin the FFE proposal: unprecedented development funding, truly global ownership of the commercial opportunities of our sport, and full self-determination through a democratic process for all MAs," it signed off.

As per the proposal:

FFE would move FIFA's commercial and operational event delivery activities into a subsidiary organisation that FIFA would own and control permanently.
The commercial value created would be shared among all 211 MAs, enabling each MA to make meaningful investments in football in their respective countries.
Under the proposal, each MA would receive USD 20 million of FIFA Forward Development funding over the next four years (2027-2030), irrespective of its individual support. This increased funding would come from the additional revenues generated by FFE through the more effective management of FIFA's commercial operations, for the benefit of all MAs.