Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter blasted the football body’s proposal to sell stakes in a $20 billion commercial subsidiary, saying the World Cup should not become an investment product for private equity with investors seeking returns.
“The FIFA World Cup is not a commercial asset that belongs to a handful of executives. It is part of the cultural heritage of world football. FIFA is the guardian of the World Cup, not its owner,” Blatter told Reuters.
FIFA’s plan has also drawn strong criticism from football’s regional confederations, which said they were blindsided by the world governing body’s plan to bring private investors into the sport.
The Confederations of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC) delivered stinging rebukes on Wednesday, saying they learned of FIFA’s equity sale proposal through media reports rather than official channels.
FIFA said on Tuesday that it plans to create a $20 billion subsidiary to run the World Cup and its other events, offering stakes of up to 20% in it to external investors.
Under the plan, FIFA would establish FIFA Forward Enterprise to oversee commercial and event operations.
FIFA, which this year held a 48-team World Cup across the U.S., Canada and Mexico that was the biggest in the tournament’s history, would retain control of the enterprise, but offer minority stakes to private investors to raise up to $4.2 billion.
According to a source at JPMorgan, which is working with FIFA to bring in external investors, the bank has been fielding a lot of incoming calls and that “demand is off the charts” even before an official outreach began.
“CONCACAF was only made aware of this matter through media reports and, subsequently, via a media release. We are deeply concerned by the lack of due process,” it said in a statement.
“We share the disappointment of many within our region and the game that this level of detail has been designed and shared publicly before any discussion with the relevant governance bodies and stakeholders has taken place..