It hasn’t been two weeks since this summer’s World Cup came to an end that we’re now looking at a world where the tournament exists without the participation of Spain, England, Norway, and other European nations.
FIFA God-Emperor Gianni “Harkonnen” Infantino finally took things too far on Tuesday when FIFA announced the creation of the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and FIFA Fast Forward Programme (FFFP).
Long story short, it’s a new way for FIFA, a nonprofit (ha!) organization, to commercialize parts of its operations and do the “for-profit” thing that it can’t legally do at the moment. It would also invite investors into the mix.
According to FIFA’s statement, the “FFE would raise up to USD 4.2 billion later this year to fund FFFP, based on an initial equity valuation of USD 20 billion by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests in FFE.”
One piece of the outrage against the plan is who FIFA plans on working with to lead the investor group: Thrive Eternal. The “permanent capital holding company” was founded in April this year by Joshua Kushner. His brother? Jared Kushner. His brother’s father-in-law? Donald Trump.
Another part of the outrage is how this project came about in the first place.
“[T]he plan is being described as a ‘unilateral Infantino project,’ to the point of the Fifa president ‘going rogue,’” writes Miguel Delaney in The Independent.
The criticisms couldn’t rain down fast enough. Anyone who has even so much as looked at a goalkeeper had plenty of negative criticisms to share about Infantino’s master plan. If Eduardo Galeano were alive today, he’d probably have died of a stroke immediately after the announcement.
This morning, UEFA took the boldest step of all the member confederations in football by announcing the following (emphasis ours):
“Europe’s position is clear. We will never lend this model our legitimacy. No one has the moral authority to sell what they merely hold in trust for the next generation.
As a result of today’s discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.”
The move also threatens next summer’s World Cup in Brazil for the women’s teams. As of now, four of 11 UEFA teams have qualified for the tournament (Denmark, France, Germany, Spain) with seven still competing for their place . . . assuming there will still be a place to compete for.
UEFA were later joined by CONCACAF, the confederation that is home to this summer’s host nations, earlier this afternoon.
In a statement shared by Martin Ziegler of The Times, CONCACAF stated that they are rejecting the proposal. There is no mention of a boycott of FIFA tournaments, as UEFA did.
FIFA and Infantino have repeatedly stressed that the FFE and FFFP are optional and will only be accepted following a democratic process, with a deadline set for September 19, 2026. But will it matter following the official stances by UEFA and CONCACAF? Will other confederations join them in rejecting the FFE and FFFP? Will Infantino be ousted from his position?
What happens next is anyone’s guess, but I’m sure the addicts who use the gambling apps promoted by various football leagues and teams have placed their bets!
