'Football is not for sale': UEFA hails FIFA's withdrawal of controversial WC investment plan
Geneva, Aug 1
UEFA has welcomed FIFA's decision to abandon its controversial proposal to sell a stake in the commercial rights of its competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, calling the reversal "a victory for the whole game" while urging world football's governing body to rebuild trust through greater transparency and accountability.
In a strongly worded statement issued after FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed the withdrawal of the proposed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project, UEFA said the plan had been unanimously rejected by its member associations and opposed by federations and confederations worldwide.
"UEFA welcomes FIFA's decision to withdraw its plan to sell a stake in its competitions, including the World Cup, into private hands," the continental governing body said.
It also thanked fans, clubs, leagues, players, national associations and confederations, as well as political leaders and commentators, for opposing the proposal.
"Football is not for sale," UEFA said, describing the withdrawal as a victory for the sport.
Despite welcoming FIFA's U-turn, UEFA launched a fresh attack on the process behind the proposal, criticising what it called "secret schemes" developed without adequate consultation.
"We cannot keep going on like this with secret schemes on fast-track timescales, cooked up by faceless individuals and of dubious benefit to the game. We must identify those responsible and hold them to account," UEFA said.
The European body added that it would work with its member associations and other continental confederations in the coming weeks to review how the proposal emerged and ensure a similar situation does not arise again.
"The current FIFA leadership has not only lost UEFA's confidence but also that of many other members of the football family," the statement added.
UEFA also accused Infantino of failing to deliver on promises of transparency made when he was elected FIFA president in 2016. It argued that with FIFA holding reserves of more than five billion US dollars, there was no need to seek outside investment to increase development funding.
Instead, UEFA proposed expanding support through the existing FIFA Forward programme by using FIFA's financial reserves to strengthen grassroots football and member associations across all 211 federations.
"We must start to use some of that money that is sat idle in FIFA's bank account to deliver the kick start that the grassroots and the wider game need in each of the 211 countries of FIFA. But we don't need to sell off the family silver to pay for it," UEFA said.
Infantino announced on Saturday that FIFA would not proceed with the FIFA Forward Enterprise project after widespread opposition from UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), CONCACAF and several FIFA stakeholders. The proposal had envisaged creating a commercial subsidiary to manage FIFA's major competition rights while allowing external investors to acquire an equity stake.
FIFA said the project was intended to generate additional revenue for member associations, but Infantino acknowledged that the proposal had created divisions within world football and decided to withdraw it in the interest of unity.
— IANS
Reader Comments
As an Indian football fan, I've seen how FIFA's "development" money rarely reaches grassroots in our country. UEFA's suggestion to use those idle reserves for actual grassroots development across 211 federations makes so much more sense than some fancy investment scheme. The beautiful game shouldn't be treated like a corporate takeover target. #FootballIsNotForSale
I'm glad the fans united against this. But let's be honest - Infantino's track record speaks for itself. Every time he proposes something "innovative," it ends up being about lining pockets rather than growing the sport. The fact that UEFA had to call out "secret schemes cooked up by faceless individuals" shows how broken FIFA's governance is. Accountability is long overdue!
The irony is painful - FIFA has billions just sitting idle while our state associations struggle to fund basic infrastructure. Here in India, we have kids playing on makeshift grounds with no proper coaching. If FIFA really wants to "develop" football globally, they should be fast-tracking that $5 billion into grassroots programs, not cooking up investment schemes. UEFA's statement hits the nail on the head.
While I agree with UEFA here, let's not pretend they're completely innocent either. European clubs and leagues have their own commercial interests, and UEFA's stance isn't purely altruistic. But on this particular issue, they're absolutely right - selling equity in World Cup rights to private investors would have fundamentally changed the sport's character. The system works when there's pushback against overreach.
As a football fan living in India, I've seen how corporate greed has already
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