World football’s governing body, FIFA has vowed to press ahead with an “open and democratic” consultation on a proposed private investment plan despite widespread opposition to the proposal.
That opposition included a pledge by Europe’s governing body UEFA to boycott the World Cup if FIFA went ahead with its private investor plan.
FIFA said in a statement all of its member associations should have a chance to consider the plan.
“Nobody is selling football,” it said.
“This is not something FIFA would ever entertain.”
Senior adviser to FIFA president Carlos Cordeiro resigned with immediate effect. (Reuters: Kent Nishimura)
Carlos Cordeiro, senior adviser to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, resigned with immediate effect on Friday in protest of the prospective sale.
“It is a bad deal for FIFA’s Member Associations, a bad deal for football, and a bad deal for the long-term future of the game,” Mr Cordeiro said in a statement.Â
“Let me be clear: I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally.“
FIFA also said it had heard feedback from UEFA and CONCACAF, the governing body for football in North and Central America.
Both of which said all 41 of its member associations had rejected FIFA’s  proposal to sell a stake in the business operations of the World Cup.
The world body also said its planned consultation process had been “disrupted by incorrect media reports”.
“We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation,” FIFA’s statement said.
“We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each (member association) has the ability to express its vote based on facts”.
FIFA said the plan it announced on Tuesday could raise up to $US4.2 billion ($6 billion) based on a valuation of $US20 billion for the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), the commercial subsidiary it proposed to run events such as the World Cup and Club World Cup.
If approved, the project could provide each of FIFA’s 211 member associations with a one-off payment of $US20 million in early 2027 and increase their funding allocation for the 2027-2030 cycle from $US8 million to $US20 million.
Reuters / AFP
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