The sale of the century. Infantino proposes $20bn FIFA rights sold with Trumps first in line to benefit

January 29 – FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino have a European Super League moment. The announcement of plans to establish a new company – FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) – to market and run FIFA events, including the World Cup, was met with derision and anger by football stakeholders, media and fans worldwide.

FIFA said the FFE will also be partially funded by private investors (including favored investors close to US president Donald Trump) with an initial $4.2 billion to be raised later this year with an initial equity rating of approximately $20 billion, giving private investors a 20%+ share of all FIFA event revenue streams.

FIFA said it has negotiated with JP Morgan to prepare for the sale and its intended investors include Thrive Eternal launched by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is expected to be the lead investor.

The sale of the crown jewel of FIFA’s commercial portfolio, FIFA said, will boost football development funding to more than $10 billion over the next four years, in what could be the biggest commitment ever made by a sports body.

FIFA said the plan still needs to be approved by its member organizations and the FIFA Council. FIFA has an extraordinary Congress organized November 23, 2026.

The carrot of FIFA’s member associations endorsing the new system is purely commercial, and member associations have proven time and time again that they can be easily bought.

FIFA says its flagship FIFA Forward funding will increase from $8 million per member to $20 million for the 2027-30 cycle, rising to $22 million and then $24 million in subsequent cycles.

The new, optional FIFA Advancement Program will allow 211 organizations to unlock up to $20 million in one-off funding for stadiums, training facilities and long-term infrastructure.

Gianni Infantino broadcast it as a democratization of the game. “Football is the most popular game in the world and it is a strange engine for the development of people and welfare,” he said. “Our job is to make sure that all football grows with it.” He added: “We intend to invest a lot of money even in the smallest or farthest places in the world of football, places that are often passed by.”

“Football is the most popular sport in the world and it is an extraordinary engine for the development of people and welfare,” said Infantino. “Our mission is to ensure that all football grows with it: FIFA exists to support sustainable, inclusive development in every corner of the world.”

“Our next phase of growth needs to be built for itself, where the commercial side of the game operates as a focused, dedicated business, whose value is shared better and better around the world … This is about global democracy.”

It is essentially about the initial concentration of 20% of the new company and its FIFA rights business in the hands of a few private investors.

FIFA said many major sports bodies, including continental and national football governing bodies and leagues, have restructured their marketing operations in the same way. Actually they don’t exist. But many brought in private investors who bought the rights to trade in time-limited acquisitions.

If FIFA cannot sell its rights to create a promising financial situation but which they claim exists in the commercial market, then the most acceptable way would be to issue a tender to a privately funded commercial partner to sell them the rights. Or, even better, hire employees from within the sectors they want to exploit with a proven sales record.

A FIFA statement said: “The President of FIFA and the management of FIFA have the duty to control the development of this project. Foreign investors will only have a small part in FFE and will not play an operational role. Equally, they are investing in a subsidiary of FIFA, not in FIFA itself.”

Of all the white lies, misinformation and manipulation of the truth that has become part of FIFA’s daily modus operandi, this is perhaps the biggest. If the alliances are agreed, FIFA will be selling all its sources of income to a private business and completely dependent on that business whose primary function is to the shareholders, not the goal of FIFA or football.

Contact the authors of this story at paul.nicholson@insideworldfootball.com or [email protected]