FIFA plans $4.2bn stake sale in tournament arm

FIFA said Tuesday it plans to sell minority stakes in the business operations of the World Cup and its other competitions through a new semi-private subsidiary, with a target of raising $4.2 billion later this year.

World football's governing body said it would keep a majority share in FIFA Forward Enterprise and would select long-term investors for minority, non-controlling interests.

FIFA announced the plan after The Times reported details based on leaked information from two sources. The British newspaper reported that FIFA president Gianni Infantino stood to profit from the scheme by becoming commissioner of FIFA Forward Enterprise after his expected next term expires in 2031. It also reported that discussions had begun with potential investors.

The Times named Joshua Kushner, brother of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and an arm of JP Morgan Chase among potential investors.

UEFA criticised the proposal. "The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade -- especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially," the European governing body said.

FIFA said it would retain sole control of FIFA Forward Enterprise and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, the match calendar and all regulatory and sporting decisions. It said it believed the new business would reach an initial equity valuation of $20 billion.

FIFA said each of its 211 member associations would be given the chance to take a one-off $20 million stake in FIFA Forward Enterprise. It said the investments, together with other programmes, could bring its total planned development funding to more than $10 billion over the next four years.

FIFA anticipated record 2026 revenues exceeding seven billion euros, or $8 billion, ahead of the first 48-team World Cup. Infantino said at the start of that tournament that there had been discussions about expanding the World Cup to 64 teams in 2030.

The Times quoted an unnamed senior football figure calling the stake-sale plan potentially worse than the European Super League, and another anonymous source saying it would create unacceptable conflicts of interest for FIFA and Infantino.

In 2019, a FIFA stakeholders' committee rejected an Infantino-backed plan for a $25 billion private investment in an expanded Club World Cup. FIFA later expanded the Club World Cup from seven teams to 32 clubs in 2025.