Fifa to continue $20bn World Cup investment talks despite Uefa boycott

Fifa says it will continue consulting its 211 member associations over plans to bring private investment into the World Cup and its other tournaments, despite a Uefa-led boycott of all Fifa competitions.

The world governing body announced on Tuesday that it intends to establish a $20bn (£15.6bn) subsidiary, Fifa Forward Enterprise, to oversee the commercial and event operations of the World Cup and its other events.

Under the proposal, outside investors could be offered stakes of up to 20% in the new subsidiary. The plan has prompted strong opposition from regional confederations, which say they were caught off guard by the prospect of private investors taking a stake in the sport’s major competitions.

Fifa said on Friday that its consultation process had been affected by inaccurate reports in the media, but insisted it would proceed so national associations could consider the plans and express their views.

“Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports. We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each member association (MA) has the ability to express its vote based on facts,” Fifa said in a statement.

The proposal has been particularly strongly criticised by Uefa, European football’s governing body. On Thursday, Uefa voted to boycott all Fifa tournaments, with the support of its 55 member nations.

Uefa accused Fifa of putting football’s “soul” up for sale, escalating the dispute over the proposed investment structure.

Fifa rejected that characterisation and said the creation of the subsidiary did not amount to selling football.

“Nobody is selling football. This is not something Fifa would ever entertain,” Fifa said.

“Everyone has the right to express their opposition and to seek further clarification, but no single entity can claim to represent all 211 MAs around the world.”

The governing body said all of its member associations should be given the opportunity to assess the proposal directly before reaching a decision.

“Each MA should be allowed to review the proposal and have a say in shaping their own future. These are the democratic principles of Fifa.”

The disagreement centres on Fifa’s plan to use Fifa Forward Enterprise to manage the commercial and event operations connected to the World Cup and its other tournaments, while allowing external investors to hold a minority stake.

Fifa said the consultation was intended to ensure that national associations could vote on the proposal using accurate information. Its decision to proceed comes after Uefa’s boycott vote and the wider criticism from regional confederations over the way the plan was announced.

The organisation maintained that no one body should claim to speak on behalf of all 211 member associations, arguing that each association must be able to review the proposal and contribute to discussions about its future.