GENEVA, AUG 1 (IANS): FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Saturday announced the withdrawal of the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project, which would have established a commercial subsidiary to manage FIFA’s major competition rights and open part of the company’s equity to external investors.
The withdrawal came after strong opposition from UEFA, several other continental confederations and key figures within FIFA.
In a statement, Infantino said FIFA had carefully considered stakeholder feedback and concluded that the project could no longer serve its original purpose.
“Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,” Infantino said.
“Our purpose has always been – and will always be – to unite and improve.”
“As a result, this proposal will not proceed,” he added.
FIFA unveiled the FFE proposal on Tuesday, proposing a new commercial entity to operate the commercial rights of flagship competitions, including the World Cup, with outside investors able to acquire a stake.
The proposal quickly provoked debate as UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC issued statements opposing the plan. UEFA warned its member-association teams could withdraw from FIFA competitions if the proposal were not scrapped. CONMEBOL later sought clarification.
The proposal also drew criticism from within FIFA. Senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in opposition, saying he did not support the initiative. Chief Operating Officer Kevin Lamour, a longtime colleague of Infantino at both FIFA and UEFA, also criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the project.
Faced with growing resistance, Infantino decided to abandon the proposal.
“The FIFA Forward Enterprise project was intended to provide a basis for further strengthening our FIFA Member Associations and our sport worldwide, especially in those countries where support is most needed,” Infantino said.
“And more so, as we said from the outset, to do this only if a majority of the FIFA Member Associations were in support and always subject to a consultation process with them, the FIFA Council, the Confederations and wider stakeholders,” he added.
According to FIFA, the proposed project could raise the FIFA Forward funding from the currently budgeted eight million dollars per association to 20 million dollars for the 2027-30 cycle, followed by 22 million and 24 million dollars in the subsequent two cycles.
Infantino said he would now focus on rebuilding consensus among all stakeholders and continuing efforts to develop football globally.
“Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, particularly in those countries that mostly need our support,” he said.
‘Football is not for sale’: UEFA
UEFA has welcomed FIFA’s decision to abandon its controversial proposal to sell a stake in the commercial rights of its competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, calling the reversal “a victory for the whole game” while urging world football’s governing body to rebuild trust through greater transparency and accountability.
In a strongly worded statement issued after FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed the withdrawal of the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project, UEFA said the plan had been unanimously rejected by its member associations and opposed by federations and confederations worldwide.
“UEFA welcomes FIFA’s decision to withdraw its plan to sell a stake in its competitions, including the World Cup, into private hands,” the continental governing body said. It also thanked fans, clubs, leagues, players, national associations and confederations, as well as political leaders and commentators, for opposing the proposal. “Football is not for sale,” UEFA said, describing the withdrawal as a victory for the sport.
Despite welcoming FIFA’s U-turn, UEFA launched a fresh attack on the process behind the proposal, criticising what it called “secret schemes” developed without adequate consultation. “We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast-track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account,” UEFA said.
The European body added that it would work with its member associations and other continental confederations in the coming weeks to review how the proposal emerged and ensure a similar situation does not arise again.
“The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA’s confidence but also that of many other members of the football family,” the statement added.
UEFA also accused Infantino of failing to deliver on promises of transparency made when he was elected FIFA president in 2016. It argued that with FIFA holding reserves of more than five billion US dollars, there was no need to seek outside investment to increase development funding.
Instead, UEFA proposed expanding support through the existing FIFA Forward programme by using FIFA’s financial reserves to strengthen grassroots football and member associations across all 211 federations.
“We must start to use some of that money that is sat idle in FIFA’s bank account to deliver the kick start that the grassroots and the wider game need in each of the 211 countries of FIFA. But we don’t need to sell off the family silver to pay for it,” UEFA said.
Infantino announced on Saturday that FIFA would not proceed with the FIFA Forward Enterprise project after widespread opposition from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), CONCACAF and several FIFA stakeholders. The proposal had envisaged creating a commercial subsidiary to manage FIFA’s major competition rights while allowing external investors to acquire an equity stake.
FIFA said the project was intended to generate additional revenue for member associations, but Infantino acknowledged that the proposal had created divisions within world football and decided to withdraw it in the interest of unity.