Fifa not ‘selling the World Cup’ in $20bn commercial plan, says adviser

Fifa not ‘selling the World Cup’ in $20bn commercial plan, says adviser

Greg Maffei defends contentious proposal he helped shape as body’s move to bring in outside investors is hit by backlash

Fifa accused of ‘crossing a line’ over $20bn plan to sell World Cup commercial rights

World governing body set to raise millions from venture Uefa hits out at sale of football ‘soul and governance’ Fifa has announced plans to sell a share of its commercial operations to private investors, a deal that would include the media and sponsorship rights of all its competitions, including the World Cup. The world governing body is working with the US bank JPMorgan on setting up a new entity – to be called Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) – that would raise hundreds of millions of dollars by selling a significant stake in the commercial rights of the men’s and women’s World Cups, and the Club World Cup to investors, with promises of “over $10bn” (£7.5bn) then being redistributed back to Fifa’s 211 member associations. Fifa confirmed the move on Tuesday afternoon after reports in the Financial Times and the Times. Continue reading...