After FIFA’s controversial plan, which will allow private investors to buy stakes in their tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup, emerged and sparked major backlash, the world football governing body chief Gianni Infantino has remained firm on his plan and written a letter to all 11-member bodies and given them an ultimatum to accept the plan in 211 days or miss out on extra funding.
In a letter written by Infantino which was reported by several international media outlets, Infantino has claimed that all member bodies have a chance to decide if they want to accept the new plan. However, all 211 member boards have been given only 53 days to decide with a deadline of September 19. However those who voted against it will earn 75% less than other boards.
“The decision on whether or not to proceed with this proposal belongs entirely to you. Should you wish to proceed, this USD 10bn package will become available as of 1 January 2027, ushering in the next phase of our journey together. In exchange, all that is required is your continued trust – everything else remains the same.
“Should you wish to retain the status quo and reject this proposal, we still have our planned expansion of the Forward programme of USD 2.7bn as previously presented, which will continue to improve and develop our game. We will continue to do great things together,” said Infantino’s letter to member boards.
FIFA Explain Plan
FIFA has claimed the initiative is to expand football funding and will make more money available for 211 member bodies in the world. The world football governing body stated that the FIFA Forward Enterprise, a new FIFA-owned and controlled subsidiary, will be set up. They claimed it will raise $4.2 billion immediately.
“Central to this would be a repositioning of FIFA Forward, FIFA’s flagship development programme, which aims to increase funding per FIFA Member Association (MA) from USD 8 million to USD 20 million for the 2027-30 cycle and grow steadily thereafter cycle-on-cycle. This funding would support infrastructure, coaching, national teams, competitions, grassroots football and the women’s game,” said FIFA’s statement.
” If approved, football development in every corner of the world would benefit immediately from increased funding available to all 211 FIFA Member Associations (MAs): (i) An optional USD 20 million per MA in exceptional and immediate funding for special projects from the new FIFA Fast Forward Programme (FFFP), (ii) USD 20 million per MA in Forward funding for 2027-2030 (currently budgeted USD 8 million), (iii) USD 22 million per MA in Forward funding for 2031-2034, and (iv) USD 24 million per MA in Forward funding for 2035-2038
This would be achieved via FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a new FIFA-owned and controlled subsidiary consolidating FIFA’s commercial and event operations; FIFA would retain sole control of FFE and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, match calendar, and all regulatory and sporting decisions
FFE would raise up to USD 4.2 billion later this year to fund FFFP, based on an initial equity valuation of USD 20 billion by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests in FFE. All net benefits of FFE will be reinvested back into football worldwide In full respect of FIFA’s democratic and governance principles, the launch of this new structure is subject to the support of a majority of MAs and the relevant approvals of the FIFA Council,” FIFA explained.
Backlash From All Over The WOrld
The move has set backlash from around the world, with major continental governing bodies UEFA, AFC, and CONCACAF expressing their dissatisfaction over the move. England’s Football Association (FA) has questioned the move.