Global football is facing a growing political and commercial crisis after global governing body Fifa tabled a controversial plan to sell a 20% stake in its flagship competitions to private investors, prompting European football’s governing body UEFA to convene an emergency virtual meeting of all 55 of its member associations this Thursday.
The plan, led by Thrive Capital, an investment vehicle founded by Joshua Kushner — brother-in-law to former US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka — has sparked widespread outrage across the global football community ever since details of the proposal, and Fifa’s aggressive push for member approval, came to light. Documents obtained by the BBC reveal Fifa sent official letters to all 211 of its member associations, setting a 19 September deadline to accept the deal in exchange for an initial payout of $40 million, half of which would be paid immediately if they agree to back the proposal. The offer will be withdrawn entirely for associations that do not comply by the deadline.
In an official statement responding to the ultimatum, UEFA said: “We have learned of Fifa’s deadline to associations to support their proposals or have the one-off payout offer withdrawn. This says everything you need to know about this plan.” This marks UEFA’s second public rebuke of the plans, with the body previously saying Fifa had “crossed a line” with the proposal. Widespread opposition has already emerged from multiple continental confederations, including the Asian, South American, and North and Central American football bodies, echoing UEFA’s deep unease over the plan.
Many member associations have expressed fury over the lack of transparency surrounding the proposal, with several senior leaders — including Football Association (FA) chairwoman Debbie Hewitt, one of Fifa’s own vice-presidents — confirming they received no advance warning of the plans, and only learned of the details through media reports. Former FA and Manchester City chairman David Bernstein has gone as far as calling for England to withdraw from the 2026 World Cup entirely if the proposals are pushed through.
Three of the eight 2026 World Cup semi-finalists are drawn from UEFA’s 55 members, and the governing body is acutely aware that a coordinated exit from the tournament by its members would completely undermine the financial viability of Fifa’s new plan. This “nuclear option” is widely viewed as the most extreme possible outcome, however, as at least one UEFA member has already signaled it is open to backing the proposals. Czech Football Association president David Trunda noted: “We can see the pragmatic benefits for Czech football.”
After days of widespread condemnation of both the substance of the plan and its closed-door development, Fifa released an eight-page defensive document on Wednesday evening laying out its justifications for the proposal. The body argues that too little of football’s rapidly growing commercial value has been distributed to under-resourced parts of the global game, and that the private investment deal would unlock much-needed funding for grassroots development. In a pre-recorded video defending the plans, Fifa president Gianni Infantino framed the proposal as “an offer, not an obligation”, arguing it would “turbocharge the development of the game globally” by delivering funding for “better pitches, stronger national teams, more pathways for young players, and greater support for women’s football”.
Fifa further pushed back against critics by pointing to past development successes, such as the first-time qualification of Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan for the World Cup — a milestone partially enabled by the body’s earlier decision to expand the tournament to 48 teams. It also cited major sporting properties including Formula 1, La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga as examples of organizations that already use dedicated private sector-aligned commercial operations, and stressed that private investors would “absolutely not” gain any decision-making influence over the World Cup or its operations.
Despite Fifa’s defensive arguments, criticism continued to flood in from across the industry on Wednesday. European Leagues, the body that represents top domestic competitions across the continent, described the plan as “a reckless and divisive development for world football”, adding: “The World Cup should not be for sale. It is not the Fifa president’s private equity asset.”
Global players’ union Fifpro called on Fifa to immediately abandon the proposal, saying it had “noted with deep concern the proposal to transform the World Cup and other Fifa competitions into investable assets for private capital”. The union added that the plan “would fundamentally and irreversibly reshape the incentives underpinning the competitions” and noted that “it was particularly troubling that a project of this magnitude has been developed largely behind closed doors”.
La Liga president Javier Tebas went even further, accusing Infantino of buying votes ahead of Fifa’s next presidential congress scheduled for March next year. “It doesn’t seem like a reform. It seems like an electoral campaign financed with the future of football,” Tebas said. “Development cannot be used to buy votes or silences. The competitions and commercial rights of Fifa are not the personal patrimony of Infantino. Whoever mixes politics, discipline, money and power without transparency cannot lead anything. Infantino is not the solution to Fifa’s governance. He is the problem.”
Hans-Joachim Watzke, vice-president of the German Football Association and Borussia Dortmund president, told German outlet Kicker that Fifa’s plans amount to an “absolute attack on football”. “A line has been crossed here,” he said. “If European football stands united against these plans, that carries a great deal of weight.”
The emergency meeting on Thursday will bring all UEFA member associations together to coordinate a unified response to Fifa’s proposal, with the entire global football industry waiting to see what action the most powerful continental confederation will take against the plan.