Uefa has responded furiously to proposals from Fifa to open up its competitions, including the World Cup, to private investment.
Fifa announced it intends to expand “football development funding” to more than $10bn and invite third-party investment through a newly created venture.
The plans were first reported by the Financial Times and the Times, with the latter suggesting the proposals could earn Fifa president Gianni Infantino tens of millions of pounds personally.
In a detailed statement, Fifa outlined plans to “invite third parties to make minority, non-controlling investments” in a new subsidiary called Fifa Forward Enterprise, or FFE, to “consolidate” its commercial and event operations.
Fifa confirmed that Thrive Eternal, an American venture capital firm, is expected to lead the proposed investor group for FFE once approval has been granted.
Thrive was founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, who is son-in-law to US President Donald Trump.
Fifa sources told BBC Sport that there has been no discussion over Infantino, or anyone else, taking on a chief executive role within the new body.
Infantino said that every nation should benefit from the wealth generated by the sport, adding: “Parts of the game have turned that popularity into remarkable commercial value – and we celebrate that success and want it to continue, because it lifts the whole game.”
He added: “Our job is to make sure the rest of football grows with it: Fifa exists to support sustainable, inclusive development in every corner of the world.”
As part of the pitch, Fifa said all member associations would be able to access up to $20m in “one-off capital” to fund football development at national level.
Fifa argued its plan is comparable to structures used by governing bodies in other sports, pointing to Premiership Rugby’s 2018 partnership with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners as a relevant precedent.
However, Uefa moved swiftly to condemn the announcement, fearing it could accelerate the expansion of Fifa competitions in ways that threaten its own lucrative events, including the Champions League.
“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” Uefa said in its strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday.
“Uefa takes it extremely seriously. So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder who cares about the future of the game.”
Uefa went further, insisting that neither Fifa nor any other body has the right to commercialise football’s governing structures in this way.
“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not Fifa’s to sell.”
Fifa maintained that it would retain full control of FFE and “exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, the international match calendar and all regulatory and sporting decisions.”
The proposals are expected to be discussed at the next Fifa Council meeting in the autumn and could be put to a vote of all 211 member associations at the Fifa Congress in Morocco in March.
