Zurich [Switzerland], July 30 (ANI): FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended plans to sell a minority stake in the FIFA World Cup and raise funds via external investors, saying that the process to bring in the plan is “democratic and not an obligation” for the member associations affiliated with the world’s football governing body.
FIFA on Tuesday announced that it was seeking to launch FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) in order to bring together the sale of FIFA’s commercial rights, right from broadcasting, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing – with the operational delivery of its tournaments, as per Sky Sports.
Under this proposal, FIFA would raise upto 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).
The proposal met negative reception from football fraternity worldwide, most particularly UEFA and FA, two of the most powerful football bodies of the world. Amid growing criticism, Infantino has downplayed concerns about the proposal, framing the initiative as a discussion paper and as something that will start the broader dialogue across the sport. He also said that the newly formed body will be a “FIFA-owned and controlled subsidiary”.
“Well, FIFA 4 Enterprise, or FFE, is actually a proposal, an offer, it is part of a democratic process, a consultation process, and above all, it is an opportunity, but not an obligation, and as I said, it kicks off the consultation process, if and only if it is approved by the majority of our 211 member associations and the FIFA Council, it would be a FIFA-owned and controlled subsidiary, consolidating FIFA’s commercial and event operations,” Infantino said as quoted by Goal.com.
Infantino also said that the initiative will “simply commercialise and organise all FIFA-owned competitions” and will “unlock sport’s potential in every corner of the world, across men’s, women’s and youth football”.
“It would simply commercialise and organise all FIFA-owned competitions, along with sponsorship brokers, licensing a new venture for the benefit of FIFA’s 211 member associations, however, unlocking previously uncaptured commercial value. So, we believe that the FFE proposal would unlock the sport’s potential in every corner of the world, across men’s, women’s, and youth football,” he said.
He also said that it could raise aising the level of funding from the currently budgeted 8 million USS to 20 million USD per association for the 2027-2030 cycle for every member association. Also, member associations could access up to 20 million USD in optional one-off funding for major projects via a new ‘FIFA Fast Forward Programme’.
“In the next forward cycle alone, distributions would rise from $8 million per MA (member association) to 20 million USD. Additionally, each MA would also have the option to access a further $20 million through the FIFA Fast Forward Program, taking the potential funding to $40 million per MA for this next cycle. It is a golden opportunity to turbo-charge the development of the game globally. But again, it is just an offer, not an obligation. It is simply a choice for our members,” he said.
The future of the World Cup is now in the hands of 211 member associations, with the deadline to approve the plan set for September 19. Over the next few weeks, a lot of debate and lobbying is expected as federations will think on financial benefits and any negative consequences due to FIFA’s future plans for the grandest tournament in the sport.
If the proposal is rejected, FIFA members will still get their standard annual payments and would not get the much-higher, lucrative cash amounts promised under the FFE incentive. (ANI)
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