FIFA Unveils $20 Billion Kushner-Backed Plan to Privatize World Cup Operations, UEFA Calls It a Line That Should Never Be Crossed

FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced Tuesday that soccer's global governing body wants to spin off World Cup and Club World Cup operations into a new for-profit entity called FIFA Forward Enterprise, valued at $20 billion, with private investors including a fund launched by Joshua Kushner.

According to Newsday, FIFA said FFE would raise up to $4.2 billion later this year based on an initial equity valuation of $20 billion, by "carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests." FIFA said it's working with J.P. Morgan on the deal.

The investor list includes Thrive Capital, a fund launched by Joshua Kushner. His brother Jared Kushner is married to Ivanka Trump, making him a son-in-law of President Trump. Newsday reported the men's World Cup that wrapped up this month "only deepened the political and personal ties between Trump and Infantino," and that those ties are already fueling concern, including from UEFA.

The plans were first reported by the Financial Times and the Times of London, with the Times reporting the arrangement could earn Infantino himself tens of millions of pounds personally, according to BBC Sport. If accurate, the head of a nonprofit sporting federation stands to personally profit from privatizing the biggest event that federation controls.

UEFA's Response Was Not Subtle

Europe's soccer body didn't mince words. "This crosses a line that football's governing institutions should never cross," UEFA said in a statement reported by both BBC and Newsday. "None of us are the owners of football... [The World Cup] is not FIFA's to sell."

UEFA went further, saying the plan raises transparency questions FIFA hasn't answered: "The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade, especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially," the body said, according to Newsday. UEFA said it's taking the reports "extremely seriously" and that "so should every national Football Association."

FIFA is structured as a Swiss-based, not-for-profit association representing 211 national member federations. Converting World Cup operations into a for-profit vehicle backed by private equity-style investors is a genuine structural shift, not a minor tweak. UEFA represents 55 of those 211 members, so it's not a fringe objection. It's Europe's entire soccer establishment pushing back.

FIFA's Pitch: 'Democratization'

Infantino framed it differently. "This is about the democratization of football worldwide," he said in a FIFA statement reported by Newsday. FIFA says the money raised would expand football development funding to more than $10 billion, and that member federations would each get access to up to $20 million in one-off capital if they approve the plan.

This is the case FIFA wants people to hear: more money flowing to smaller federations that can't otherwise afford youth programs, facilities, or coaching development. Whether that argument holds up depends entirely on governance details FIFA hasn't yet made public, including who exactly the other investors are beyond Thrive Capital and what control rights they'd hold even as "non-controlling" minority stakeholders.

The Unanswered Question Is the Kushner Link

None of the sources here—AP, BBC, or Newsday—report any allegation of legal wrongdoing. There's no investigation, no charge, nothing alleging Infantino or the Kushners broke any rule. This is a business proposal that requires approval from FIFA's 211 member federations before it goes anywhere.

Joshua Kushner's fund investing in an entity that could personally enrich Infantino, while Infantino has spent the past year cultivating a visibly close relationship with President Trump around the World Cup, creates the appearance of a significant overlap. Jared Kushner has no reported direct role in Thrive Capital's investment; the fund is run by his brother. That distinction matters and shouldn't get flattened into vaguer claims about "the Kushners" as a bloc.

Still, nobody at FIFA, in the reporting available, has laid out who else is investing, what governance rights come with a minority stake, or how compensation to Infantino personally would be structured or disclosed. These are the specifics UEFA is demanding and specifics FIFA has not yet provided.

FIFA's 211 member federations now have to vote on whether to approve FFE. Given UEFA's 55 members represent nearly a quarter of that body and are already opposed to it, the plan faces a genuine fight before a single dollar of the promised $4.2 billion changes hands.