Infantino World Cup plan ties $40m per FIFA member to vote, report says
Gianni Infantino told FIFA members a $10bn World Cup investment package depends on approving his plan by Sept. 19, The Times reported.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
2 min read
Gianni Infantino's World Cup plan comes with a very large carrot: FIFA's 211 member associations could each access up to $40 million if they back his proposal to bring private investment into the men's tournament, according to a letter seen by The Times.
The Times reported that FIFA members have been given until Sept. 19 to vote on the proposal. Under the plan, private investors would be allowed to buy stakes in the men's World Cup, the newspaper reported.
Infantino, FIFA's president, set out two very different funding paths in the letter, according to The Times: a $10 billion package if the proposal passes, or $2.7 billion in development money if members reject it.
What is Infantino's World Cup plan?
The proposal would open the men's World Cup to private investors by allowing them to purchase stakes in the tournament, according to The Times. FIFA's member associations are being asked to decide whether to approve that shift by the Sept. 19 deadline reported by the newspaper.
In the letter, as reported by The Times, Infantino told the associations that the choice was theirs. The newspaper quoted him as writing that the decision on whether to go ahead with the proposal “belongs entirely to you.”
He also wrote, according to The Times, that approval would make the $10 billion package available from Jan. 1, 2027, while rejection would leave FIFA with the planned expansion of its Forward programme, worth $2.7 billion.
The Forward programme is FIFA's development funding system for its member associations. In the letter reported by The Times, Infantino said the proposed package would give each member association the possibility of accessing up to $40 million in the cycle beginning Jan. 1, 2027.
Why is UEFA upset about the proposal?
The plan has already drawn resistance. Sources told ESPN that UEFA is considering its options, including a potential World Cup boycott, over what it described as a lack of consultation and governance around the proposal.
That threat, if pursued, would throw a fierce political fight into the middle of FIFA's push to remake the commercial structure of its biggest competition. The report did not say that UEFA has decided to boycott the World Cup, only that sources told ESPN the option is being considered.
The letter puts the money question directly in front of FIFA's members. According to The Times, the associations must decide whether to accept the private investment model and unlock the larger package, or keep the current approach with the smaller development funding expansion already presented.
ESPN said information from its reporter Mark Ogden was used in its report on the letter and the reaction to the proposal.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.