FIFA’s plan to potentially sell stakes in the World Cup continues to generate backlash, with UEFA member associations voting unanimously Thursday to boycott competitions being held by the governing body.
Earlier in the week, FIFA proposed raising up to $4.2 billion to fund a subsidiary known as FIFA Forward Enterprise that would hold commercial rights for the World Cup. The venture would have a valuation of $20 billion and control the ticketing, sponsorship, licensing and broadcast rights to the global tournament while FIFA maintains “exclusive authority” regarding governance, competitions and other matters. FIFA has been working with J.P. Morgan on the proposal and would reportedly provide its member organizations with payouts of more than $80 million.
Martyn Ziegler of The Times reported that the UEFA boycott “would essentially kill the project” since the competitions would not feature “most of the best teams in the world.” The boycott will continue unless the proposal is “abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership,” UEFA said as part of a lengthy statement on Thursday explaining its logic and criticizing the premise.
“The moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever,” UEFA wrote in the statement. “Commercial return becomes a permanent obligation. Investor expectations become a daily pressure. From that moment onwards, every decision on the international calendar, every decision on competition formats and every decision shaping the future of football is no longer driven by what best serves the game, but by what best serves shareholders.
“This model has no place in the world of football. Football’s future cannot be dictated by the expectations of those whose first duty is to maximise financial return. Nor can the interests of national associations, leagues, clubs, players and supporters become subordinate to investor returns. Football cannot mortgage its future for financial gain.”
While the FIFA Women’s World Cup does not take place until next June, there are several FIFA tournaments on the calendar in the preceding months. The FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup begins in September from Poland, and it is followed by the U-17 Women’s World Cup the next month in Morocco. From there, FIFA holds its U-17 World Cup in November from Morocco, leading into the second edition of the Women’s Champions Cup from Miami, Fla. in January.
“As its global governing body, FIFA is responsible for making sure the game reaches every corner of the world, and that the value it creates supports federations and communities everywhere,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Our next stage of growth needs a structure built for it, one where the commercial side of the game operates as a focused, dedicated business, with its value shared more and better all around the world.”
UEFA subsequently criticized FIFA for the plan, issuing several statements before its member associations voted unanimously to boycott FIFA tournaments for the time being. In addition, UEFA chided FIFA for this proposal occurring “in secret and brought to the brink of approval without any meaningful consultation with those entrusted with stewarding the game.”
Concacaf and its member associations met Thursday afternoon and rejected the FIFA plan as well. Adam Crafton of The Athletic reported that “the feeling and discussion expressed among the vast majority of Concacaf members was that they are losing confidence altogether in Gianni Infantino as FIFA President.” Infantino is up for re-election next year, and, if he wins, would retain power until 2031, after which he cannot run again because of term limits. Ziegler reported earlier this week that Infantino “would be lined up to” become commissioner of FIFA Forward Enterprise thereafter.
It remains unknown if FIFA will continue moving forward with the private equity proposal in light of the UEFA and Concacaf actions. Infantino said in his statement earlier this week that this intention by FIFA “is about the democratisation of football worldwide.”
Netflix holds global rights to the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments in 2027 and 2031. FIFA has not yet awarded rights to the 2030 and 2034 World Cup tournaments, although it is likely to bundle the English- and Spanish-language U.S. rights together, per a report by Alex Sherman of CNBC.
The FIFA World Cup Final between Argentina and Spain earlier this month averaged 66.4 million viewers in match coverage across Fox and Telemundo, becoming the most-watched soccer contest of all time in the United States. The usual Nielsen methodological caveats as it pertains to Big Data and out-of-home viewership apply, along with NBCUniversal-owned Telemundo measuring streaming viewership using Adobe Analytics.
